The De La Salle Lady Spikers and the defending champs NU Lady Bulldogs look to capitalize on their win-once incentive on Wednesday, May 3 in the UAAP Season 85 women's volleyball Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Aiming to enter the Finals and set up a championship rematch, the Lady Spikers and the Lady Bulldogs are out to dispatch the UST Golden Tigresses and the Adamson Lady Falcons, respectively.
La Salle battles UST at 1 p.m. while NU faces Adamson at 3 p.m.
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The Lady Spikers dominated the elimination round to finish as top seed with a 13-1 slate, posting their best eliminations record in nine years.
La Salle lost that solitary game to UST in the second round, 19-25, 25-14, 18-25, 12-25 on April 2. The Lady Spikers had the Golden Tigresses number in their first round encounter, 25-20, 16-25, 25-8, 15-25, 16-14.
La Salle blanked the UE Lady Red Warriors, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17, last Saturday, April 29 to enter the semifinals with four straight victories.
As usual, super rookie Angel Canino led the Lady Spikers with 13 points but Alleiah Malaluan, who's still recovering from the knee injury she sustained in the offseason, produced six points.
Lady Spikers assistant coach Noel Orcullo welcomed Malaluan's quality time on the court as it just deepens La Salle's rotation heading into the semifinals.
"It's a welcome addition because Leiah can play the opposite and outside positions. It's a big win for us because she's a good addition to our arsenal in the opposite position although we can also have her play on the outside. We're really looking at where she can really be effective."
Malaluan didn't specify as to how healthy she is now but opted to point out that the Lady Spikers are not yet on their 100 percent.
"Our game is not perfect yet so we need to practice more and work hard for it especially that the semifinals is coming."
Meanwhile, reigning MVP Bella Belen stressed that the Lady Bulldogs must make the most of their win-once semis incentive and dislodge the Lady Falcons right away.
"We're a bit more confident because we have a twice-to-beat advantage but our mindset is that we shouldn't let them drag the series to a 'Game Two' so that they'll have the chance to advance. We should put them away in the very first game," said Belen.
Belen and the Lady Bulldogs entered the Final Four as the team with the longest winning streak, clinching six straight victories capped by a 21-25, 28-30, 25-14, 25-13, 15-13 win over Ateneo last Saturday, April 29.
NU defeated Adamson twice in the eliminations, eking out a 25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10 first round win on March 1 and a 26-24, 25-16, 25-22 second round triumph on April 12.
Meanwhile, the men's stepladder semifinals also begin at 11 a.m. with the fourth seed La Salle (8-6) taking on the third seed FEU (8-6). The winner will advance to the next phase and face the second seed UST (11-3) in another knockout match.
The victor in that contest then faces the three-peat seeking NU Bulldogs in a best-of-three Finals series. NU earned an outright Finals berth after sweeping the elimination round, 14-0.
