Spotlight on fiery rivalry; UST guns for Final 4 vs NU

Kim Dy has issued some sort of a warning to Ateneo: There will be fire.

The burning may come from the eyes of defending champion La Salle when it faces Ateneo Saturday in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But you know where Dy is coming from.

“We know we will be drawing from something so there’ll be fire in our eyes for that game,” said Dy, referring to La Salle’s first-round loss to its fierce rivals

The Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Spikers in the first round, 26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17, coming from behind in each of the first two sets before stunning the suddenly careless reigning college queens.

Ateneo, however, isn’t reading too much into its first round victory.

“We will need everyone’s confidence against La Salle,” said star Jia Morado. “Everyone La Salle will field will compete so we need everybody to step up too.”

There’s very little at stake in the 4 p.m. clash. The rivals are tied at 11-2 and they have twice-to-beat edges going into the Final Four.

But aside from bragging rights, the Lady Spikers and the Lady Eagles are expected to thrill the expectedly overflow crowd in a bid to position themselves against a semifinal opponent they are more comfortable with.

University of Santo Tomas and National U will give the two rival schools something to shoot for when they play a key showdown at 12 noon.

Tickets for both games will be sold separately.

The Tigresses and the Lady Bulldogs could decide the Final Four cast today. A UST (8-5) win completes the semifinal roster.

The Lady Bulldogs (7-6), meanwhile, need a win to force a do-or-die against UST for the last Final Four berth.