Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—De La Salle will enter the Final Four of the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament in an unfamiliar situation.
The Lady Spikers, who are gunning for a four-peat, are entering the semifinals as the no.3 seed with a 10-4 record after losing to University of Santo Tomas, 25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, in the playoff for the second spot.
This is the first time in more than a decade that La Salle will play in the Final Four without the twice-to-beat advantage after the Lady Spikers reigned atop the league as the no.1 seeds from Seasons 71 to 76, resulting to four titles.
La Salle settled for the second seed from Seasons 77 to 79 and won two titles in a row before going back to the top of the elimination ladder in Season 80 en route to the championship.
The Lady Spikers’ third-place seeding is also their worst since Season 70 when they placed seventh with a 3-11 record after most of their wins were forfeited after the league found out that Jacque Alarca was playing for the team without being enrolled at La Salle.
As for UST, this would be its first Final Four since Season 79 when it lost to La Salle in the semifinals.
This is also the first time for the Golden Tigresses to hold the twice-to-beat advantage since Season 73 when they finished with a 10-4 card for the no.2 seed before losing to, as fate had it, the top-seeded Lady Spikers, 13-1, in the finals.