UST, NU seeking postseason berth in women's volley

c/o UAAP

Standings W L

Women

UST 8 1

DLSU 7 1

NU 7 2

FEU 4 4

Ateneo 3 6

UE 2 6

AdU 2 6

UP 1 8

Men

FEU 7 1

NU 7 2

DLSU 5 3

Ateneo 5 4

UST 5 4

AdU 4 4

UE 1 7

UP 0 9

Games today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena

10 a.m. – NU vs UE (Men)

12 noon – UST vs AdU (Men)

2 p.m. – NU vs UE (Women)

4 p.m. – UST vs AdU (Women)

Both the University of Santo Tomas and National University seek to solidify their spot into the postseason against separate opposition when the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament resumes on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Fresh from an intense four-set classic which the Lady Bulldogs won, 23-25 25-17 25-21 25-20, they and the Golden Tigresses are hopeful to put a gap between them and the rest of the league as they try to lock in spots in the Final Four, as well as the twice-to-beat advantage that comes with finishing in the top two.

The defeat proved to be a teaching moment for UST, as they suffered their first defeat of the season.

Head coach Kungfu Reyes shares, "Marami kaming natutunan this time. Ang maganda naman, as early as this, as early as second game ng second round na naramdaman na namin or nakita na namin talaga na yung somehow yung breaking point na tinatawag namin."

With the possibility that the rest of the league has figured out their tendencies, Reyes hopes that they would show some grit in their upcoming matches. He says, "That's why yun yung mga department na talagang i-enhance pa namin na dapat matutunan. So again, sa mental toughness, yung how to recover especially yung mga body language, yun yung mga tinitignan namin ngayon."

At the same time, he adds, "So I'll just remind-- ni-remind ko rin sila sa dugout... we lose a point, we lose a set but do not lose our character and this time we lost a game definitely dapat hindi mawala yung character na meron kami."

A win against Adamson in the final game of the quadruple-header not only will lock in a fourth straight postseason berth for the Golden Tigresses, but also extends their lead over currently second-place La Salle to a full game.

The Lady Falcons have sputtered to a 2-6 record heading into the Holy Week break, but a win would put themselves level with idle Ateneo at fifth place, just a game and a half behind Far Eastern University.

In other women's volleyball matchup scheduled, NU hopes to use their win against UST as momentum towards a strong finish to the eliminations.

Bella Belen shared to the media after their win, "Drive to win the game kasi every game, need dapat may improvement. So, yun yung nakikita sa teammates ko and sa team namin na kada game, talagang nag-i-improve kami."

Serving as their obstacle is the University of the East, who is seeking their first three-win campaign since 2019.

The Lady Warriors are tied with Adamson at 2-6, and still have postseason aspirations, but it's all about taking it one game at a time.

Casiey Dongallo shares, "... We’re hoping to win more than one more game para maging masaya naman."

Men's action will kick off the day's action in Pasay, with NU hoping to get additional wiggle room against a UE side bound to another sub .500 campaign at 10am.

Meanwhile at noon, last season's losing finalists UST will face off against an improved Adamson side that has postseason aspirations.