INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?One more team from the Visayas will join the Shakey?s V-League when the league?s seventh season opens April 11 at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Cebu-based Southwestern University will become the third Visayan team after University of San Jose-Recoletos, also of Cebu, and Bacolod?s University of St. La Salle in the first conference, which will have 10 teams.

Southwestern, the reigning Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. champion, is taking the spot vacated by University of the Philippines, which decided to take a leave of absence.

Moying Martelino, chair of the organizing Sports Vision, said all the Visayan teams will start playing in the elimination round, unlike in previous years when they were all seeded in the quarterfinals.

?All the teams have the chance to test their mettle,? he said. ?This is going to be fun, exciting as we envisioned it to be.?

Format

The 10 teams will be divided into two groups and play a one-round eliminations with the top four squads from each group moving on to the quarterfinals.

The elite 8 will be grouped into two and play a single round with the top two teams in each group clashing in a pair of crossover semis.

Winners will then clash for the crown in another best-of-three affair.

UST favored

Reigning UAAP champion University of Santo Tomas, which also swept last year?s crowns to jack up their record haul to five titles, looms as the heavy favorite in the tournament.

A vastly improved Ateneo de Manila University side and Far Eastern University will be among the teams tipped to figure prominently in the title race, along with Adamson University and San Sebastian College.

Lyceum of the Philippines and College of St. Benilde, two teams which retained the core of their last year?s squad, will also be seeing action in the tournament sponsored by Shakey?s Pizza and backed by Mikasa and Accel.