The Lady Archers and the Lady Stags, champions of the UAAP and the NCAA, respectively, parade their Thai imports at 6 p.m. with the former hoping to come out strong in their bid to open their campaign for a third straight crown on a high note.
Winners of today’s twinbill will join opening day winners Adamson and Ateneo de Manila at the helm.
Losing 2005 UAAP finalist Adamson debuted with a big 25-14, 25-20, 25-20 win over 2005 NCAA runner-up Philippine Christian U while Ateneo edged University of the East in a marathon 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 15-10 duel late Saturday.
La Salle will banner tall 23-year-old Kanchana Jindarat while San Sebastian will lean on Boulee Jalerns, also 23, up front. Both players are noted power hitters, making their encounter in this event presented by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by Accel and Mikasa truly a match to watch.
"We’ll see who has the better guest player," said San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb in Filipino. "It’s going to be an interesting game."
Gorayeb, however, said the game would be decided not by the imports, but by how the local players will perform.
"A guest player’s talent would be wasted if the other players play bad so the other players must also step up," said Gorayeb.
Spicing up the La Salle-San Sebastian duel is the 4 p.m. match pitting 2005 University Games champion Far Eastern U and WNCAA titlist Lyceum.
The Lady Pirates opted to stick with the locals, picking Con Con Legaspi and former La Salle-Bacolod standout Glenda Pintolo as imports while the Lady Tams have yet to acquire one at presstime.
"I’m satisfied with what we have right now, our strength is our teamwork," said Lyceum mentor Emil Lontoc.