Tigresses eye No. 2 vs Cobras

MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas goes for win No. 2 against newcomer Southwestern University even as University of St. La Salle-Bacolod debuts against Far Eastern U in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 at The Arena in San Juan.

The Tigresses, seeking a third straight championship, are heavily favored over the Lady Cobras, who struggled even with a Thai import in their debut against San Sebastian last Tuesday.

The Lady Stags, one of the title contenders in the league sponsored Shakey’s Pizza and presented by PLDT MyDSL, pounced on the Cobras’ inconsistency and cruised to a 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 victory.

The España-based squad, on the other hand, trounced the FEU Lady Tams, 25-9, 25-13, 25-13, in Group A action in last Sunday’s opener of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Mighty Bond.

That makes the Tigresses the favorite over the Cobras, the reigning CESAFI champions in the 6 p.m. main game of a triple-bill marking the third playdate of Season 7 first conference.

St. Benilde and Adamson clash in the 2 p.m. duel of opening day losers in Group B while USLS opens its bid against FEU at 4 p.m. in Group A.

“Out of 10, I would rate my team 9,” said UST coach Shaq delos Santos. “But we will try to improve every game since all the teams want to beat us.”

That includes SWU, which hopes to settle down this time and improve on their reception and floor defense with Thai import Pitayada Lasungnern, Rapril Aguilar, Erika Verano and Danalie Baquiro tipped to take care of the team’s offense.

But they will have to contend with a talent-laden UST crew headed by MVP Aiza Maizo, Angeli Tabaquero, Maika Ortiz, Maru Banaticla, Dindin Santiago and Rhea Dimaculangan.

Meanwhile, the Adamson-St. Benilde match will be aired on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. tomorrow while the FEU-USLS and UST-SWU games will be shown Saturday and Sunday, respectively.