DEFENDING champion National University and University of the East dispute the last quarterfinals twice-to-beat advantage in Pool E as the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship second round comes to a close today at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
With both teams sporting 1-1 win-loss records, the winner of the 11 a.m. match will join unbeaten De La Salle University into the next phase armed with incentives.
Far Eastern University aims for a Pool F sweep and a quarterfinals bonus against University of the Philippines at 2 p.m., while the Lady Spikers and College of Saint Benilde clash at 5 o’clock.
The three-peat-seeking Lady Bulldogs are out to ride the momentum of a morale-boosting 25-11, 25-23, 25-13 sweep of the Lady Blazers last Sunday to finish in the top two of the round-robin stage heading into the last eight of the 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.
“Kukunin namin itong panalo namin as an inspiration para sa mga next games namin para pagbutihan at gagalingan pa kasi may kaya pa kaming ipakita,” said NU middle blocker Alexa Mata.
Bella Belen and Mata delivered the goods the last time out, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Lady Bulldogs recovered from a sorry four-set loss to La Salle at the start of the second round that snapped their 28-game winning streak dating back to 2022.
NU’s win over Saint Benilde also gave La Salle, carrying a 2-0 slate, the first quarterfinals bonus outright.
The Lady Warriors will rely on the explosive duo of Jelai Gajero and Casiey Dongallo to bounce back from a four-set loss to the Lady Spikers last Saturday and secure a twice-to-beat advantage.
