ATENEO de Manila eyes its third win in a row, while National University (NU) tries to end a two-game skid when they take on separate foes seeking to stay in second place in Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Brimming with confidence with two straight wins to start the second round, the Lady Eagles seek to continue their flight as they battle the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, who are fighting for their dear life reeling at eighth place with a 2-7 card, at 2 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs, on the other hand, try to regain their winning ways facing fifth-placed Adamson Lady Falcons (4-5) at 4 p.m.
Ateneo pulled NU down to identical 6-3 win-loss records for a share of second place after exacting vengeance on its first-round tormentor with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 last Saturday.
The Lady Eagles successfully got back at Far Eastern University (FEU), which beat them in their previous match, at the start of the new round before dominating NU. In those two wins, Ateneo didn’t drop a set.
“It’s a really huge boost in our confidence knowing that the teams that defeated us [in the first round] we can get back at them,” Ateneo star Bea de Leon said. “It’s a huge boost not only on the standings but for our confidence also, knowing that we can do it.”
NU, in contrast, has yet to win in the second round after dominating the first round winning six of its seven games. The Lady Bulldogs lost back-to-back to De La Salle and Ateneo.
For Head Coach Babes Castillo, the Lady Bulldogs have to double their effort in this more crucial round since all the teams are coming for them.
“Expectations got higher in this round. I told the players that you have to exceed yourself, we need to have a higher standard,” said Castillo, who is banking on Jaja Santiago, Jasmine Nabor, Risa Sato and Aiko Urdas to bounce back from a lackluster performance.
Adamson, however, is out to give NU a tough fight as the Lady Falcons just regained their confidence with a 19-25, 25-11, 16-25, 25-16, 15-12 comeback win over UE last Sunday.
“We definitely need to build on this. We play NU next, and I know coming off a two-game losing streak for them they’re gonna be hungry for a win,” Adamson Head Coach Air Padda said. “We gotta bounce back and forget about [our previous losses] and focus on building the new.”
The Lady Falcons will continue to miss rookie spiker Chiara Permentilla due to a sprained ankle, leaving bigger scoring responsibilities to spikers Jema Galanza, Mylene Paat, Eli Soyud and Joy Dacoron, as well as setter Fen Emnas.
In men’s play, FEU seeks to keep its hold of the second spot against University of the Philippines (3-6) at 8 a.m. before the clash of De La Salle (3-6) and UE (0-9) at 10 a.m.