PVL Collegiate Final 4 under way
National University and Adamson seek to sustain their unbeaten run in the semis as they face Arellano and Far Eastern U, respectively, in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference Final Four at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan today.
NU downed Lyceum, San Sebastian, FEU, Jose Rizal University and Ateneo to sweep the Group A elims, looking to add Group B No. 2 Arellano to its list of victims at the start of their bestof-three semis at 4 p.m.
Jaja Santiago, Aiko Urdas, Jorelle Singh, Risa Sato and ace setter Jasmine Nabor banner the seasoned Lady Bulldogs solely focused on testing their system under new coach Babes Castillo.
“What’s important is for us to have an opponent outside the court because it will help us better our system,” said Castillo, who noted how his wards slipped into their old behavior against the Lady Eagles where they squandered an eight-point lead in the fourth set before eking out a 25-21, 13-25, 25-19, 25-22 victory last weekend.
The Lady Chiefs, who only dropped a single match in their side of the elims, are looking forward to the challenge, hoping to improve on their reception and blocking behind Jovielyn Prado, Regine Arocha and Andrea Marzan.
“This is a new challenge for us. And if there’s a challenge, we fight until the end,” said AU coach Obet Javier, also out to steer the lone NCAA school to the championship against its UAAP rivals.
Meanwhile, Group B topranked squad Lady Falcons stake their spotless slate against Group A No. 2 Lady Tams in their own best-of-three semis playoff at 6:30 p.m. with both squads reeling from the loss of their respective aces for varying reasons.
Both matches can be viewed live via streaming on www.sports. abs-cbn.com/livestream/pvl.
AdU star Jema Galanza is out for at least 12 weeks after sustaining a tibiotalar dislocation on her right ankle last Sept. 25 while Lady Tams ace scorer Bernadeth Pons, together with libero Kyla Atienza, will be skipping the rest of their matches to suit up in the UAAP beach volleyball tournament kicking off tomorrow.