UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) eyes its third straight victory against debuting BaliPure in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Tigresses, priming up for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines in January, won their first two matches with an all-local crew, surprising the Open Conference runner-up Air Force Jet Spikers in last week’s inaugurals of the season-ending conference of the league, sponsored by Shakey’s, and sweeping the Coast Guard Lady Dolphins.
But the EJ Laure-led team, the most successful team in the league with six championships, will have its hands full against BaliPure, which remains solid despite the departure of aces Alyssa Valdez and Gretchel Soltones.
The Ateneo-backed Water Defenders tapped Suzanne Roces to anchor their campaign with the former league Most Valuable Player expecting to draw solid backing from the likes of Amy Ahomiro, Bea Tan, Mae Tajima, Dzi Gervacio, Ella de Jesus, Jem Ferrer, Dennis Lazaro and Charo Soriano.
That should make the 6 p.m. duel worth watching, with Laure also boasting of a reliable crew composed of the power-hitting Carla Sandoval, Marivic Meneses, Chloida Cortez, Shannen Palec and the comebacking Pam Lastimosa.
The match will be aired live over ABS-CBN Sports + Action Channel 23 with the Coast Guard-University of the Philippines (UP) clash at 4 p.m. to be shown on a delayed basis. Both matches can also be viewed live via streaming on www.v-league.ph, according to the organizing Sports Vision.
In the Spikers’ Turf Season 2 Reinforced Conference, Champion Supra clashes with Instituto Estetico Manila at 12:30 p.m.