USLS, SWU tossers clash in crucial tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Action in the eighth Shakey’s V-League first conference heats up today with the staging of the quarterfinal round with University of St. La Salle-Bacolod and Southwestern U clashing in a duel of Visayan teams at The Arena in San Juan.

The unique format has given four teams the slight edge in the two-group single round quarters with Ateneo and Perpetual Help gaining identical 1-0 slates in Group A for beating groupmates Lyceum and Adamson, respectively, in the elims.

USLS and SWU also tote 1-0 marks in Group B after toppling National U and Far Eastern U, respectively, in the previous round.

That makes the 4 p.m. encounter between USLS and SWU a key matchup with the winner moving closer to a dream Final Four stint.

No Visayan team has made it to the semis since 2008 when the sponsoring Shakey’s Pizza and organizing Sports Vision opened the league to the top provincial squads.

“Since we are here in the quarters, we’ll do everything to get into the next round,” said USLS coach Roger Banzuela in Filipino.

Banzuela will pin his hopes on Patty Orendain, the league’s leading scorer with an 18-hit average in the elims, Charmaine Moralde, Floradele Dolar, Royce Quijano, April Hingpit and American reinforcement Jayde Hair.

Danika Gendrauli, on the other hand, will lead the Lady Cobras’ bid along with Rapril Aguilar, Danalie Baquiro, Anne Pido and guest player Erika Verano.

Perpetual Help also tries to zero in on a semis berth as it slugs it out with Lyceum in the 2 p.m. opener. Live streaming of the games can be viewed on www.v-league.ph.

The Altas are in the quarters for the first time but found themselves bunched in a tough group, that includes Adamson, which is seeking a second straight championship in the league backed by Accel and Mikasa after ruling last year’s second conference.