DEFENDING champion De La Salle shoots for a Final Four berth as it tangles with University of the East today in the UAAP Season 80 women's volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
All eyes will be on the league's two talented liberos in the Lady Spikers' Dawn Macandili and the Lady Warriors' Kath Arado in the 4 p.m. match
"'Yung buhay ng UE, na kay Arado," said De La Salle mentor Ramil Jesus.
Far Eastern University tries to grab solo third spot against a University of the Philippines fighting for its Final Four life in the curtain raiser at 2 p.m.
De La Salle's four-game winning streak was made possible by the trio of reigning MVP Majoy Baron, Kim Kianna Dy and Desiree Cheng, while the reserves also contribute when someone is ineffective — which make the Taft-based side more dangerous.
One example was Norielle Ipac, who made an impact as an substitute for Aduke Ogunsanya in the Lady Spikers' 25-17, 21-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-5 win over the Lady Tamaraws last Sunday.
Although they are back in last place after losing two consecutive matches, the Lady Warriors don't show it in their 2-8 record.
Aside from Arado, interim coach Rod Roque has been drawing big numbers from Shaya Adorador and vastly-improved Meanne Mendrez, while setter Lai Bendong has been playing with a lot of confidence in orchestrating plays.
"Hindi puwedeng biruin ang UE," said De Jesus, as De La Salle guns for a 10th straight semis appearance.
Currently tied with skidding National University at 6-4, FEU needs to pull this one off to close in on second-running Ateneo (7-3) in the race for the second twice-to-beat slot in the Final Four.
The Lady Maroons (3-7) are lagging behind the Lady Tamaraws and the Lady Bulldogs by three games in the race for the last semis berth.
UP, which is currently tied with University of Santo Tomas in sixth place, cannot afford to make room for mistakes from now on and another loss will virtually kiss its Final Four aspirations goodbye.
In the men's division starting at 8 a.m., titleholder Ateneo and FEU, in joint second at 8-2, try to assure themselves of semifinal berths against UP and UE, respectively.
