Lady Eagles eye No. 12 vs Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo steps up its drive for an outright championship berth and a thrice-to-beat edge as it guns for its 12th straight win against University of Santo Tomas today in the UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Opening a week-long, three-game stretch, the Lady Eagles are favored to go 12-0 in their 4 p.m. duel with the Tigresses, who are seeking to stay in the hunt for a spot in the semifinals.

The race for the two remaining post-season slots remain a toss-up among UST, Adamson and National U, which tote identical 5-6 slates with UP and FEU just behind with 4-7 marks.

La Salle, which like Ateneo is also in the semifinals, takes on winless University of the East in the first match at 2 p.m.

If they beat the Tigresses, the Lady Eagles still need to prevail over the Lady Warriors on Sunday and the Lady Spikers in the last game of a rare tripleheader on Feb. 18, also at the MOA, to secure an outright passage to the Finals with a thrice-to-beat incentive.

Ateneo is coming off a 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 win over Far Eastern University last week to stay perfect in 11 starts.

UST, on the other hand, had its four-game winning streak halted by La Salle, a 21-25, 9-25, 18-25 loss also a week ago.

Trying to keep on improving in their remaining elimination round assignments even without injured middle hitter Bea de Leon by simply following coach Tai Bundit’s gameplan to the dot is what on the Lady Eagles’ skipper Alyssa Valdez’s mind at the moment.

Veterans Pam Lastimosa, Carmela Tunay, Ria Meneses, Jessey de Leon and rookie EJ Laure will be the vital cogs for the Tigresses to get back on the winning track.