Ateneo eyes V-League sweep; NCBA seeks semis anew

Ateneo seeks to preserve its unblemished record going into the Final Four as the Lady Eagles target a 7-0 sweep of the quarterfinals in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Conference Saturday at Filoil Flying V Arena.

The Lady Eagles tackle a streaking National University, who are vying to snatch the No. 1 spot from them, in the 12:45 p.m. match.

An upset win by the Lady Bulldogs will put them in a tie with the Lady Eagles at 6-1. But the Sampaloc based squad can only wrest the top seed with a three or four-set victory.

University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University, both toting 4-2 records, dispute the third spot in the second match at 3 p.m.

And it could be an agonizing wait for the losing team as idle Arellano still has a shot at forging a tie for fourth place that will lead into a playoff for the last semifinal berth.

In men’s action, La Salle and National College of Business and Arts fight for the last Final Four slot in the Spikers’ Turf Season 1 Collegiate Conference.

The newcomer Wildcats hope to grab the opportunity this time versus the Green Archers in a knockout match at 5 p.m.

“We need to play with urgency,” said NCBA coach Ernesto Balubar.

The winner will advance against No. 1 Ateneo.  Second-ranked NU and Emilio Aguinaldo clash in the other best-of-three pairing.

NCBA mainstays John Domingo and Jason Canlas hope to lift the Wildcats after an upset loss to the also-ran University of the Philippines, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 11-15, last Wednesday.

The sorry decision resulted into a playoff as the Wildcats dropped into a 3-4 tie with the Archers at fourth place.