Standings W L

Women
*DLSU 13 1
*NU 11 3
*AdU 10 4
*UST 10 4
FEU 6 8
Ateneo 4 10
UP 1 13
UE 1 13

Men
**NU 14 0
*UST 11 3
*FEU 8 6
*DLSU 8 6
Ateneo 7 7
UE 5 9
AdU 2 12
UP 1 13
**Finalist
*Final Four

Games Wednesday:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
11 a.m. – DLSU vs FEU (Men Step-ladder)
1 p.m. – DLSU vs UST (Women Final Four)
3 p.m. – NU vs AdU (Women Final Four)

TOP seed La Salle needs but a single win to move into the finals of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament while in contrast, its Final Four nemesis in the University of Sto. Tomas needs twice of it to earn a ticket into the championship round.

All things considered, expect nothing less than a battle royale between the two sides as they tangle at 1 p.m. today, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

And in the words of UST top-gunner Eya Laure, they expect nothing less than a high magnitude level of play against La Salle which they consider an old familiar rival in their search for glory in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.

An overflow crowd is no less expected as this could really be a high-octane and emotional showdown when the twice-to-beat Lady Spikers shoot for their first Finals stint since 2018 against the fourth-ranked Tigresses.

“Kumbaga, siyempre La Salle is La Salle. Kumbaga may system sila na matibay. Papakita din namin na yung system namin sa UST,” said Laure of their much-anticipated Final Four match-up.

“Lagi naman kapag La Salle and UST, parang may rivalry na rin siya dati pa. So motivating pa din kasi siyempre, magagaling silang lahat. Kahit naman sinong player doon sa La Salle, nandoon yung respect,” she added.

But for all intents and purposes, UST may have the psychological edge against La Salle because in their most recent Final Four duel in 2019, the Tigresses, armed with twice-to-beat protection then, booted out the Lady Spikers to reach the championship round.

And make no mistake about this. It was also the Tigresses that dealt the Spikers their single loss of the season, a 19-25, 25-14, 18-25, 12-25 setback last April 2 that ended a nine-match winning streak and besmirched their immaculate win-loss slate then that made it 13-1.

But it was the Lady Spikers that drew first blood at the Tigresses’ expense, 25-20, 16-25, 25-8, 15-25, 16-14, in the season opener last February 26.

With all the MVP talk around, Laure is simply focusing on hurdling the gargantuan task of beating La Salle twice.

History is not on UST’s side, however, as not a single No. 4-ranked team in the Final Four era has ever made it to the Finals.

But yes, miracles can happen nobody knows and Laure can only hope.

“Ang mas gusto ko talaga mag-championship. Maka-appear sa championship podium,” Laure said. “Siyempre, nasa senior year na din ako. Doon ‘yung attention ko ngayon.”

The Lady Spikers will enter the Final Four oozing a lot of confidence with a four-match winning streak after losing to the Tigresses.

But with the stakes now much higher, La Salle needs to elevate its game to another level, especially since UST will do everything to save its season.

“Ang mindset lang po talaga sa team namin is kailangan naming tataga ang sarili namin as a team. And always stick to the system and game plan. Ganoon pa rin, one step at a time, every game,” said rookie Angel Canino, who has been splendid all season long for the Lady Spikers.

A victory will send La Salle to a potential Season 84 Finals rematch with No. 2 National University, which it hopes to get the job done too against third-ranked Adamson in the other half of the Final Four at 3 p.m.

The six-match winning streak, combined with their twice-to-beat advantage, gave the back-to-back title-seeking Lady Bulldogs a boost of confidence ahead of their showdown against the Lady Falcons, who are making their first Final Four appearance since 2014.

“Yung mindset namin is hindi na namin dapat paabutin pa na kailangan maka-dalawang laro,” said reigning MVP Mhicaela Belen.

“Dapat, unang game pa lang, tapusin na namin para hindi kami mahirapan kahit may twice-to-beat kami,” she added.

NU survived Adamson in the first round, 25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10, last March 1 before completing a head-to-head elims sweep in their April 12 rematch, 26-24, 25-16, 25-22.

For setter Louie Romero, the Lady Falcons will leave everything on the floor to finally solve the Lady Bulldogs puzzle and send their Final Four to a decider.

“For me magandang laban sa Wednesday kasi medyo kami off noong second round (meeting) so kailangan namin maglaro as a team. Tulong-tulong lang kami,” said Romero.

In the men’s step-ladder semifinals, Far Eastern University and La Salle fight for survival at 11 a.m., with the winner taking on No. 2 UST in another knockout match for the remaining Finals berth on Saturday.

Three-peat-seeking NU jumped straight to the Finals after completing a 14-match sweep of the eliminations.