EIGHTEEN volleyball squads from leading colleges and universities in the country battle it out for crown and glory in the third staging of the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship set to start this Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

After taking a leave of absence last year, University of the Philippines and De La Salle University are back in the fold, completing the cast featuring all eight teams from the UAAP and 10 from the NCAA.

“All 18 schools are confirmed. This is our third conference this season. This is our flagship conference. Our main event. The goal really was to get all 18 schools, the 10 NCAA teams and eight UAAP schools. We’re happy that we’re able to do that this year,” Dr. Ian Laurel, president of SSL organizer Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. (ACES), said yesterday.

UAAP champion National University eyes a third straight crown and a sweep of the season after its flawless National Invitationals conquest last July.

The Lady Bulldogs are sure to face tough opposition from a very competitive field in the centerpiece SSL tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea and Summit Water.

The 18 squads are split into four pools with NU, Arellano University, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Ateneo de Manila University and San Beda University bunched in Pool A.

Pool B is made up of University of Santo Tomas, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Mapua University, University of the East and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Pool C is bannered by La Salle, Letran College, Jose Rizal University and UP while Pool D has NCAA champion College of Saint Benilde, San Sebastian College-Recoletos and Adamson University.

Friday’s opening games pit SSC-R against FEU starting at 3:30 p.m. while Lyceum and UE clash at 6.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the next round where they will be grouped into two carrying over the points they earned in the prelims for another round-robin play to determine their rankings in the quarterfinals.

The top two ranked squads after the round will be armed with twice-to-beat advantages in the crossover quarterfinals.

The semifinals and battle for bronze are knockout affairs while the championship is a best-of-three series.

All players listed in a team’s roster will be fielded under the tournament’s unique all-to-play format while the video challenge system will also be implemented.

“We want to showcase the recruits of the teams they’ve acquired during the offseason. The fans can expect new names and new faces. See how they will perform and jell with their teams. Established players will also be playing so we’ll have the full lineup of teams ready to play,” Laurel said.”