UAAP giants clash in Eagle Ridge volley tilt

MANILA, Philippines - University Athletic Association of the Philippines champions Far Eastern U and La Salle loom as solid favorites in the second staging of the Eagle Ridge volleyball championships featuring a high-powered collegiate cast on March 10-11 at the sports clubhouse of the sprawling Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

Far Eastern is tipped to meet the same Santo Tomas squad which it dethroned for the UAAP men’s division title recently in a short two-day competition that stakes cash prizes to the top finishers.

Out to pull off a surprise in the tourney kicking off a series of summer activities at the country’s biggest golf complex are  Ateneo, Adamson, La Salle Dasmariñas, National U, St. Dominic Savio College and University of Perpetual Help System-Biñan.

The La Salle ladies will gun for a sweetener to their UAAP conquest against familiar rivals Far Eastern, UE and UST.

The event, open free to the public, is sponsored by LG Electronics, Mizuno, Pepsi Cola Philippines, Inc., G&W Club Shares, Microtel Hotels and Resorts, DMD Cool Care Center, Inc., Ebenezer International College, Mayfull Resort, Golf’en Sky Travel and Tours Corporation and Arcilla Domini Graphics.

Tournament format calls for the eight teams playing in the men’s division to be divided into two groups and go through a single, round-robin series. 

The Top two teams in each group will advance in the step-ladder semifinals. The four ladies teams, meanwhile, will also play a single round-robin series with the top two teams advancing to the finals.

The men’s champion gets P40,000 plus a trophy and medals for the players. The runner-up gets P20,000 plus trophy and medals and the third placer P10,000, trophy and medals.

Only the top two teams in the women’s side get cash prizes, trophy and medals with the winner receiving P20,000 and the runner-up P10,000.