By MARK REY MONTEJO
Games Saturday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
9 a.m. – UE vs La Salle (men’s)
11 a.m. – Adamson vs UST (men’s)
1 p.m. – UE vs La Salle (women’s)
3 p.m. – Adamson vs UST (women’s)
Red-hot La Salle seeks to stretch its impressive winning run to five games when it faces still-winless University of the East in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, March 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coming off a week-long break and a four-set win over archrival Ateneo, the Lady Spikers are expected to come out with guns ablaze in their 1 p.m. duel with the Lady Warriors as they intend to protect their pristine record with or without Shevana Laput.
Laput also missed the team’s much-anticipated duel with the Lady Eagles but her absence hardly mattered as Angel Canino put on another inspiring performance that it rubbed off on Lilay Del Castillo.
Like Canino, Laput is also eager to bring the championship trophy back to Taft but is likely to miss Saturday’s game once again as she is still trying to regain her full force after falling ill.
Del Castillo was a big revelation the last time as she listed 18 points off seven attacks, eight blocks, and three aces – numbers she insists would earn for herself the trust and respect of both teammates and opponents.
“Hindi po kasi ako ma-acknowledge sa mga ginagawa ko eh, kasi ang lagi kong iniisip na dapat lang na ganun ‘yong performance ko, dapat lang ganun ‘yong contribution ko,” said Del Castillo.
“Kasi part na ako ng core ng team eh, ‘di ako na ‘yong mga tao na dapat nagpapabuhat pa. I believed ako na ‘yong part sa team [na nagbubuhat]… ginawa ako ganun ng mga coaches, ni-train ako ng ganun ng maaga,” she added.
But all eyes will be on the duel between host University of Santo Tomas and Adamson at 3 p.m.
With both teams coming off impressive wins, expect more fireworks in the marquee matchup between Adamson’s Shai Nitura and UST’s Angge Poyos.
After dropping their first two games, the Tigresses are on a roll, having won their last three games – thanks to the deadly duo of Poyos and Reg Jurado.
For Adamson to beat UST, Nitura should get much-needed support from Frances Mordi. If only Nitura would deliver double-digit output, then the Lady Falcons, for sure, will be an easy customer for the Tigresses.
In men’s action, UE (1-4) and La Salle (0-4) duke it out at 9 a.m., while UST (3-1) guns for fourth straight victory against Adamson (1-3) in their 11 a.m. showdown.
