UP takes over La Salle’s V-League spot

MANILA, Philippines – University of the Philippines will be the eighth team that will be competing in the sixth season of the Shakey’s V-League, which opens on April 19 at the Fil-Oil Arena (formerly The Arena) in San Juan City. San Sebastian is eyeing to defend its title while former three-time champions University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University will also be aiming to reclaim the V-League crown after falling short last season. Ateneo, meanwhile, is expected to hang tough at it tries to end a very long title drought in the tournament. To ensure that they will have the right people to finish the job, Far Eastern University, Lyceum and College of Saint Benilde have beefed up their respective rosters. But UP’s entry is expected to heat up the competition. The Lady Maroons are taking La Salle’s slot. The Lady Archers, another three-time champion, decided not to compete and took a leave of absence this season. This is the second time that La Salle took a leave of absence. The Lady Archers and the Tigresses did not compete in the first conference of the fifth season won by the Lady Falcons. UST and La Salle, however, returned in the last conference of the fifth season won by the Lady Stags. Making the sixth season's first conference more exciting is the single round eliminations, after which the top four finishers will automatically advance to the quarterfinals. The remaining teams will be joined by University of St. La Salle-Bacolod and University of San Jose-Recoletos (Cebu) to battle it out for the last remaining quarterfinal spots. It will be another single round robin affair in the quarterfinals with the top four teams earning places in the cross over semis. The No. 1 team will meet No. 4, the No. 2 team facing No. 3 in a best-of-3 series for the finals, which will also be a best-of-three series. – GMANews.TV