THE RACE is on to get favorable seeding in the playoffs as three middling teams try to join the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigresses at third place in the UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball tournament today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The University of the Philippines (UP) and Adamson University (AdU) will battle in a rematch of their classic first round showdown at 4 p.m., while National University (NU) takes on winless University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m.
The Lady Maroons, Lady Falcons and the Lady Bulldogs are tied at 4-6 (win-loss), trailing the Tigresses (5-6) by half a game, and are in dire need of a win to force a three-way tie from third to fifth spots and stay in the Final Four hunt.
Assured so far of not only of a semifinals slot but also the twice-to-beat bonus are unbeaten Ateneo and second-running De La Salle. Unbeaten in 11 games, the defending champion Lady Eagles are on track for jumping straight to the Finals with a thrice-to-beat incentive by sweeping their last three elimination round matches.
The Lady Maroons overcame the Lady Falcons, 22-25, 25-21, 29-27, 34-32, in their first meeting last Jan. 7, in a game where middle-hitter Kathy Bersola went down with a season-ending ACL injury.