UP spikers eye crucial victory vs St. Dominic

MANILA, Philippines - The first LBC Men’s Volleyball League winds up its elimination round today with University of the Philippines going all out against an ousted St. Dominic Savio side in a bid to stay in the hunt for the last semifinal berth in seniors play at the Lyceum gym.

The Maroons tote an even 2-2 card and would need no less than a win in their 1 p.m. encounter to force a tie for second with National U and UE, which both finished with 3-2 slates in the tournament sponsored by LBC Hari ng Padala.

University of Perpetual Help and Far Eastern U took the two semis seats in Seniors A with 3-0 cards with the Altas and the Tams to dispute the No. 1 spot in the crossover semis.

The crossover semis will be played tomorrow at the Arellano gym.

Focus will also be on the juniors side with Angeles University Foundation and St. Francis of Assisi-Bacoor disputing the last semifinal berth in Juniors B of the tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza, Toby’s Sports, Dunkin’ Donuts, Mikasa and Asics.

The AUF and the SFAC tossers have identical 3-1 (win-loss) slates for a share of the top spot with Mayamot High School with the winner joining Juniors A topnotchers University of the East and Sta. Elena High School in the crossover semis.

Mayamot HS, meanwhile, is fancied to clinch the other semis berth as it plays ousted Claret School in the other match in the juniors of the league.

A Claret win, however, will pave the way for a three-way for second among Mayamot, SFAC and University of Santo Tomas, which ended its elims campaign with a 3-2 card.

UE and Sta. Elena took the first two semis berths by topping Juniors A. UE swept the elims for a 5-0 card while Sta.Elena finished second with a 4-1 slate.