La Salle Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament game. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 volleyball tournament second round
MANILA, Philippines—After several go-arounds together, the La Salle Lady Spikers know that while the twice-to-beat advantage in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament is within reach, locking it in is an entirely different challenge.
La Salle bolstered its hold on the No. 2 seed after squeaking past Adamson 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-4, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena, but the spot remains up for grabs with two other contenders in the mix.
“We’re given an opportunity to get that twice-to-beat, so we’ll push ourselves — the whole team—to stay in that advantage,” said Angel Canino. “It’ll be hard, but I believe we can do it. Hopefully, we end the second round strong, as a team.”
READ: UAAP: La Salle survives Adamson, keeps twice-to-beat bid going
La Salle can only control so much. Even with a win in its final assignment, the final seeding could still shift depending on the results of other games.
University of Santo Tomas, which shares the same record as La Salle at 9-4, can still rise to 10-4 with a win over National University in its final assignment.
La Salle Lady Spikers’ star Angel Canino. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Meanwhile, Far Eastern University (8-5) also has a shot at entering the race if both La Salle and UST lose their final games.
For Shevana Laput, all La Salle can do now—other than winning its own games, of course—is hold on and play its heart out for the remainder of the elimination round.
“Just puso. We have to fight for this because we need to prepare ourselves mentally. I think that’s what we need to improve on more,” said Laput.
“La Salle is not a second or third team, we’re a championship team and we’ll show everyone that,” added the middle blocker.
The Lady Spikers face a hungry FEU squad at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
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If La Salle and UST finish with identical records at the end of the elimination round, they need to go through a playoff game for the twice-to-beat bonus before meeting each other again in the Final Four.
