NU, La Salle to arrange finals showdown

DEFENDING champion National University (NU) and Season 85 champion De La Salle University (DLSU) aim to make the most out of the twice-to-beat incentive they carry in the final four and arrange a finals duel in the UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

The final four cast this year is the same as Season 86 as the NU Lady Bulldogs (12-2) face the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws (9-5) at 2 p.m., and the DLSU Lady Spikers (9-5) go up against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses (9-5) at 6 p.m.

NU team captain Bella Belen remembered the stinging Game 1 loss against FEU last year and vowed not to let the Lady Tamaraws forge a second game this time.

"As for me, I think we've already learned our lesson. Even though the pain we felt that time was intense, because we had the chance to win, it was just Game 1 of the semifinals [against FEU]," she said.

FEU's main gunner Gerz Petallo, on the other hand, believe that history can repeat itself as the Lady Tamaraws brace for a tougher match this time.

"We are ready, but we have a lot to work on. Finals, semifinals, those are all hard. We are very ready, but we need to fix and adjust on our part," she said.

Despite losing the first game, NU bounced back with a victory in Game 2 to reach the finals last year.

DLSU, on the other hand, is raring to get back in the finals and reclaim the title it won two years ago.

The Lady Spikers, who defeated the Golden Tigresses in the playoff for second place last Wednesday, will rely heavily on their blocking game to score a repeat victory.

"It's good that our blocking worked. For our part, we tell them that about blocking, it's not really about height, it's all about timing. How to read the setter, how they're going to set, and how the blocker will hit. You need to read what the spiker is thinking," said DLSU coach Ramil de Jesus.

UST head coach Emilio Reyes Jr., on the other hand, wants her team to maximize the opportunity of playing in the final four.

"We will do the best we can. DLSU is very tall, and we need to do our maximum effort to go against them. What I tell the team is to embrace what is happening now and our situation, and recover well," he said.

"This with the help of our viewing, and our eagerness to win, maybe, we can reach the Finals again, one game at a time."