DEFENDING champion De La Salle eyes its 10th straight Final Four appearance when it faces a back-against-the-wall University of the East (UE) in Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Lady Spikers, who seized the top spot by winning eight of their 10 games, are trying to become the first team to enter the semifinals season in their 4 p.m. match against the Lady Red Warriors.
Riding the momentum of four consecutive wins capped by a come-from-behind 25-17, 21-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-5 victory over Far Eastern University (FEU) last week, De La Salle Head Coach Ramil de Jesus stressed that the best is yet to come for his team.
“It’s not yet their best movement as a team. There are still unforced errors and they lack communication inside the court. It’s not yet perfect,” de Jesus said. “They should not lose their self-confidence during the game. When you commit errors, make up for it. You cannot carry your mistakes all-game-long.”
The Lady Tamaraws, who yielded to De La Salle to fall third place with a 6-4 win-loss record, try to bounce back when they battle the sixth-placed University of the Philippines Lady Maroons (3-7) at 2 p.m.
“We cannot afford to lose more games because we want to end up at No.1 or 2. This is the turning point of our season if we want to reach the top, we have to work hard,” said FEU Head Coach George Pascua, who will be facing a UP side that is hanging to a slim hope of advancing further this season.
De Jesus cautioned his wards against upset-conscious UE, which snatched two wins in its 10 games.
“When UE changed its coach, their character became different,” said de Jesus, referring to Lady Warriors interim coach Rod Roque, who won two of his first five games. “They have nothing to lose. They are not giving up through their well-organized floor defense. So we can never underestimate UE.”
Eyes will be on the battle of the league’s top two liberos—De La Salle’s Dawn Macandili and UE’s Kath Arado.
Joint second placers FEU and Ateneo, which have identical 8-2 cards, battle separate foes in the men’s tournament.
FEU faces winless UE (0-10) at 8 a.m., while Ateneo takes on UP (3-7) at 10 a.m.