Stepladder Final Four kicks off
3rd rank Lady Falcons face 4th seed Golden Tigresses
Games on Wednesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
11 a.m. – Ateneo vs FEU (Men’s Final Four)
1 p.m. – NU vs UST (Men’s Final Four)
3 p.m. – Adamson vs UST (Women’s Stepladder 1)
AND the climb begins.
Third-ranked Adamson University (AdU) and fourth-seeded University of Santo Tomas (UST) gun for each other’s heads in a knockout set-to to kick off the rare stepladder Final Four in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Action erupts at 3 p.m. with the lucky winner climbing the mountain for another win-or-go-home duel against back-to-back champion and the second-seeded National University (NU) in the second stage, which will be a knockout match anew for the bragging rights to face De La Salle University (DLSU).
The mighty DLSU Lady Spikers (14-0) advanced straight to the best-of-three finals after wiping out the entire opposition for two rounds, thus turning the traditional semifinals to a stepladder one for the first time since 2022. It’s also La Salle’s first sweep since 2014.
But Adamson and Santo Tomas have to meet in the eye first before even thinking of challenging the titleholder NU, much more the unbeaten La Salle.
“We have our eyes on the prize,” said AdU ace Shaina Nitura, the presumptive season MVP.
With solid coverage from Nigerian stalwart Frances Mordi who finished just second to Ms. Nitura in the MVP race, the Lady Falcons clinched the third seed with a 9-5 slate to dodge a complication with the UST Golden Tigresses and the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws at 8-6 that set the stage for a playoff.
And it was Santo Tomas which came out of the eliminator alive to complete the Final Four over the weekend. Now with little to no break, the UST Golden Tigresses try to jump off the clip anew in a second straight do-or-die match against a well-rested Adamson unit.
“We’ll take it one game at a time,” said UST libero captain Detdet Pepito.
In the men’s division with a traditional Final Four, top-ranked FEU and five-peat champion NU shoot to arrange a quick finals rematch with twice-to-beat incentives against separate rivals. The FEU Tamaraws collide with the fourth-ranked Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles at 11 a.m. followed by the NU Bulldogs’ another finals bid against the Santo Tomas Golden Spikers at 1 p.m.
NU salvaged the second seed and the other win-once bonus after a 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 28-26 win over Santo Tomas in a playoff the other day. — John Bryan Ulanday
