LA Salle locks horns with University of Santo Tomas while Adamson battles Perpetual today in the semifinals of the Shakey’s Super League National Invitationals at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Lady Spikers clash with the Golden Tigresses at 4 p.m. after the 2 o’clock battle between the Lady Falcons and the Lady Altas, with the winners clashing for the title in a best-of-three showdown next week.
La Salle cruised past Mindanao’s Jose Maria College Foundation 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 while UST ousted Luzon qualifier Enderun Colleges 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 25-14 last Wednesday, setting the stage for the much-awaited battle between the two UAAP rivals.
“Ibang labanan na dito sa semis. Sabi ko lang sa team, hindi pwedeng ganito ‘yung lalaruin namin. Kailangan i-angat ‘yung level ng play pagdating ng semis,” said La Salle deputy coach Noel Orcullo, whose charges are one of only two teams that reached the semis without dropping a set.
“Actually, new breed of players na rin sila pero isa lang ang makikita mo sa La Salle na ‘di nagbabago, ‘yung tangkad ng mga players. Sa amin, meron din kaso karamihan maliliit pero lalaban kami,” UST coach Kungfu Reyes said as he braced for the La Salle twin towers of Thea Gagate and Shevana Laput.
Perpetual and Adamson are no pushovers, especially the Lady Altas who pulled off a huge upset win over NCAA champion College of St. Benilde to gatecrash the Final Four.
“Nakikita ko na sa kanila ngayon ‘yung puso at dugong Perpetual. Sana magtuloy-tuloy ‘yung tapang at tiwala sa semis,” said coach Sandy Rieta after the Lady Altas scored a 25-16, 20-25, 28-26, 16-25, 15-12 win to eliminate the Lady Blazers in the quarterfinals.
“We’ll be prepared. We’re hoping na maipakita pa rin namin ‘yung consistency o kaya mahigitan pa namin dito sa semis,” said coach JP Yude, whose wards drubbed CESAFI champion University of San Jose-Recoletos 25-9, 25-11, 25-23 to reach the semis.
