Eagles target No. 2 vs Maroons

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo tries to zero in on the other semifinal berth as it clashes with University of the Phils. even as Adamson and University of Santo Tomas dispute solo third place in the UAAP Season 75 women’s volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan today.

The Lady Eagles, who swept the National U Lady Bulldogs last Sunday to end a three-game losing skid, are heavily favored against the also-ran Lady Maroons in their 2 p.m. encounter, looking for their eighth victory against three losses.

The Lady Falcons and the Tigresses, tied with the Far Eastern U Lady Tams at 6-4, duel at 3:30 p.m.

With an impressive 9-1 card, La Salle has secured the first twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four with the other coveted slot a toss-up among Ateneo, UST, FEU and Adamson.

Ateneo actually has a relatively light schedule ahead, facing winless University of the East before taking on defending champion La Salle in their much-anticipated Feb. 9 showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena.         

Fille Cainglet, now back in the groove after missing two games, is expected to fully recover from the ankle injury when they face the Lady Archers for the second time.

“We’ll try to keep the No. 2 spot,” said Ateneo mentor Roger Gorayeb.

UST, meanwhile, has a much tougher sked ahead than Adamson with the España-based squad facing four teams in contention for Final Four.

The Tigresses will be pinning their hopes on Maika Ortiz, who is out to recover from a slump in a bid to help the team stay in the Final Four hunt.

“Hopefully in the last four games namin, we would see Maika step up.  Lately, she’s struggling,” said UST coach Odjie Mamon, who will also bank on Judy Caballejo, Maru Banaticla and Pam Lastimosa.

The Adamson’s “Big 3” of Pau Soriano, Sheila Pineda and Mayette Zapanta are expected to bounce back after being held down to single digits by La Salle.