UAAP Season 80 Women's Volleyball kicks off

Coming this weekend

The much-anticipated second semester action in the UAAP formally kicks off this weekend at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Telecasts are slated on both S+A and its HD counterpart, with streaming options available via sports.abs-cbn.com and TFC.tv for overseas.

The league has been witness to superstars like Alyssa Valdez, Gretchen Ho, Cha Cruz, and Aby Marano, among many others. And this season won't be without the latest batch of sensations.

Kicking off women's volleyball play on Saturday is the matchup between Adamson and National University at 2pm, followed by La Salle against the University of Santo Tomas at 4pm.

Jema Galanza and the vastly improved Lady Falcons seek to put what they learned in the offseason into practice, going up against the Lady Bulldogs, who are hell-bent on giving Jaja Santiago a winning legacy in her final season.

As for the defending champions, the Lady Spikers refocus around Majoy Baron, Kianna Dy, and Des Cheng as they go up against the Lady Tigresses of Cherry Rondina.

The rest of the league plays on Sunday, with the University of the Philippines against the University of the East at 2pm, followed by Ateneo against Season 80 hosts Far Eastern University at 4pm.

The Lady Maroons will be under the helm of Godrey Okumu this season, replacing Jerry Yee, with their core of Diana Carlos and Ayel Estranero providing leadership alongside Isa Molde. As for the Lady Warriors, they look at their national team pool players in Roselle Baliton and Kath Arado to build the team up from their disastrous 1-13 record.

The Lady Eagles seek to make a return trip to the finals, with Maddie Madayag taking on the captaincy. They are looking to Ponggay Gaston to step up offensively alongside Bea De Leon, Kat Tolentino and Jhoana Maraguinot, as they pick up the pieces from the departure of Jia Morado and Michelle Morente. They will face a battle-tested Lady Tamaraws centered on the veteran leadership of Bernadeth Pons, Chinchin Basas, Buding Duremdes and Jerrili Malabanan.

The men's division will also get their action underway this weekend, with the Saturday morning doubleheader of Adamson vs NU at 8am and La Salle vs UST at 10am, followed by the Sunday morning doubleheader of UE vs UP at 8am and Ateneo vs FEU at 10am. The 10am games will be shown LIVE on S+A, while the 8am games will be LIVE on ABS-CBN Sports' new cable channel Liga (which is available on Sky as Channel 86 for SD and Channel 183 for HD, as well as Channel 14 on SkyDirect).