UST, Ateneo belles face lowly foes

Fancied University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo set out the heavy favorites against winless Letran and Lyceum, respectively, looking for victories that would keep them within sight of unbeaten San Sebastian in the Shakey’s V-League second conference at The Arena in San Juan today.

The Tigresses and the Lady Eagles are tied with the idle Adamson Lady Falcons at second  with 2-1 (win-loss) slates, just one game behind the pacesetting San Sebastian College spikers (3-0).

Against the Lady Knights, the Tigresses are expected to impose their will and strength on the net on a team built around Venus Bernal, Mary Jean Balse, Angeli Tabaquero and guest player Suzanne Roces.

Letran, with Johanna Carpio reinforcing the team, has dropped its first three games and will need to draw outstanding games from Bangladesh Pantaleon, Rossan Fajardo, Joy Cases and Cindy Optana to pull off an upset over the first conference champions.

Like UST, Ateneo, which underwent tremendous buildup, including a three-week training stint in Thailand, is tipped to dominate Lyceum in the 5 p.m. main match of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Expect Thai ace Lithawat Kesinee to spearhead the Lady Eagles’ bid again with support to come from Ma. Rosario Soriano, Denise Acevedo and Patricia Taganas while the Lady Pirates, also winless in three starts, will pin their hopes on guest player Estrelita Enriquez and mainstays Sherrilyn Carillo, Beverly Boto and Jane Jarin.

Meanwhile, the UST-Letran match will be shown on NBN-4 tomorrow starting at 2 p.m. while the Ateneo-Lyceum encounter will be aired on Tuesday.

For updates on the country’s premier volley league, supported by Mikasa, Accel, 100Plus Isotonic Drink and Active White Skin whitening products, log on to www.v-league.ph.