Lady Archers, Eagles start volley title duel

MANILA, Philippines - On one side is a team that’s been a familiar fixture come playoffs time, going all the way to the UAAP women’s volleyball title six times before, including two the last three seasons.

On the opposite end is a squad that’s never been in the finals since joining the league in 1978.

With this, holders La Salle and first-time finalist Ateneo battle it out for the Season 74 diadem beginning today at the FilOil Flying V Arena, bringing their fabled rivalry over to the volleyball court.

Unbeaten all season long, the DLSU Lady Archers come into the 2 p.m. encounter with a lot of built-in advantages – championship experience, height, momentum, and a thrice-to-beat edge that’s seemingly hard to overcome.

By going 14-0 in the elims, the Lady Archers were rewarded with an outright finals berth and thrice-to-beat bonus. This means the Lady Eagles have to defeat them thrice to snatch the crown while DLSU needs just two victories to wrap up an unblemished title drive.

“Bagong chapter na naman para sa mga bata itong finals. Kailangan na naman itong paghirapan upang malusutan ang challenge na ito (The finals will be a new chapter for us. As always, we have to work hard to hurdle this challenge),” said DLSU mentor Ramil de Jesus, said.

Veterans Abigail Maraño, Michelle Gumabao and Cha Cruz, together with rookies Ara Galang and Mika Reyes, setter Mika Esperanza and libero Melissa Gohing, are expected to take charge for DLSU the way they did in their elims sweep.

Ateneo, which used to carry the “doormat” tag in the league, is expected to lean on MVP contender Fille Cainglet, Alyssa Valdez, Dzi Gervacio, Gretchen Ho, A Nacachi, playmaker Jem Ferrer and defensive specialist Denden Lazaro.

“Skills-wise, meron kami sa opensa at depensa. Talagang ang malaking advantage nila ay ang height (Skills-wise, we can match up in offense and defense. It’s just they enjoy a big advantage in height),” said coach Roger Gorayeb, after his second-ranked crew nosed out No. 3 Santo Tomas, 25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, in the stepladder semifinals last Wednesday.

The last time they met, the Lady Eagles gave the Lady Archers a tough time before yielding, 18-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7.

“Lumabas ang pagkabata nila sa game (Their youth and inexperience came to fore in that loss),” said Gorayeb, hopeful his wards learned from their mistakes.

“Next year pa ‘yung prediction ko, pero mabilis na nag-grow ‘yung mga bata. Nandito na kami, kukunin na namin ito (I have initially predicted a winning season next year yet but the team has progressed fast. Now that we’re here, we’ll make a go for it),” he added.

In the men’s Final Four, top seed Far Eastern U and No. 4 DLSU dispute the second and last finals berth against four-time champ UST Tigers at 10 a.m.