Ateneo plays lightweight UE
Games Today (The Arena, San Juan) 2 p.m. – FEU vs Adamson 4 p.m. – Ateneo vs UE
Defending champion Ateneo eyes a convincing performance before its highly-anticipated match with archrival La Salle this weekend when it faces winless University of the East (UE) today in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
Favored to extend their winning run to 24 games, the Lady Eagles will use their 4 p.m. match as an opportunity to gain more momentum leading up to their duel with La Salle on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Ateneo-La Salle match will be the first meeting since the Lady Eagles easily swept the title series last year to capture their second straight crown.
Alyssa Valdez is expected to deliver another impressive performance for Ateneo. The reigning Most Valuable Player is coming off a 23-point showing in last Saturday’s straight-set defeat of Adamson at the Mall of Asia Arena.
University of the East enters the game with little chance of losing its 50th straight game, a run that began in 2012 that included three straight winless seasons.
But while the task appears gargantuan against the Lady Eagles, the Lady Warriors are not losing hope.
Shaya Adorador, UE’s lone bright spot, will have to deliver a strong showing if she wants to pull off a stunning win the so-called David versus Goliath match.
Ateneo’s quest to stay unbeaten Ateneo La Salle NU FEU UP UST Adamson UE comes following the 2 p.m. opener between National University and Far Eastern University, with the winner taking solo third.
NU and FEU are tied for third at 3-2 following contrasting results over the weekend. The Lady Bulldogs were handed a stunning five-set loss to the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses while the Lady Ta m a r a w s survived the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons in a similar fiveset affair. 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 1 2 2 3 3 4 5