Lady Archers brace for rampaging Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines – Bracing for another grind it out battle, De La Salle aims to clinch the remaining twice-to-beat slot in the semifinals as it faces University of Santo Tomas Wednesday in the UAAP Season 77 women's volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena.          

The Tigresses seek to extend their winning streak to five, and the Lady Spikers hope to end their amazing run in the 4 p.m.

Defending champion Ateneo tries to stay on course for an outright championship berth in the Finals against Far Eastern University at 2 p.m.    

Seeking their 11th consecutive victory, the Lady Eagles will miss rookie middle hitter Bea de Leon, who will be out for at least three weeks due to an index finger injury she suffered in last Monday's training.   

Ateneo has already secured the first semis incentive and definitely, the Katipunan-based spikers, now on their sixth straight Final Four stint. are going all out to jump straight to the title round even without De Leon.         

La Salle, which has a 9-1 slate, is coming off a scrambling 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 27-25 victory over National University last Saturday.   

From as low as seventh place, UST strung four straight wins to zoom to solo third and move at the .500 mark.  

With Pam Lastimosa, Carmela Tunay, Ria Meneses and rookie EJ Laure playing inspired, the Tigresses repeated over the Lady Tamaraws, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, last Sunday.        

"UST is peaking right now. So ganoon, kailangang paghandaan, hindi puwede yung ganito ang kondisyon namin (against the Lady Bulldogs)," said Lady Spikers coach Ramil de Jesus.     

Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Cyd Demecillo, Carol Cerveza, Christine Soyud and Mary Joy Baron will be the vital cogs for La Salle.   

Tigresses coach Odjie Mamon is hoping that his troops will sustain their impressive run by maintaining their focus on the game and avenge their disappointing 23-25, 25-27, 17-25 loss to the Lady Spikers in the first round.   

"Malalakas ang remaining games namin. We still have La Salle and Ateneo pa," said Mamon, who is seeking to steer UST to its first post-season stint in three years.      

The Lady Spikers showed toughness in crunchtime in the first round, and Mamon is looking forward for a better effort this time for his Tigresses.         

"Maga-gauge yung improvement namin against La Salle, like on how we can keep them up lalo na sa endgame," said Mamon.        

Locked in a four-way tie from fourth to seventh places along with NU, University of the Philippines and Adamson University at 4-6, FEU needs a win so badly to keep its Final Four aspirations alive.            

But even without De Leon, the Lady Tamaraws will still find the Lady Eagles a tough customer with reigning MVP Alyssa Valdez, Ella de Jesus and Amy Ahomiro leading the way.