For the third straight year, the NCAA women's volleyball tournament is featuring a stepladder semifinals showdown with Lyceum of the Philippines University and Arellano University slugging it out first to fight for their dear lives.
The third-seeded Lady Pirates and the Lady Chiefs will collide on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. for the right to face second-ranked Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the next round.
This is LPU's second straight Final Four appearance after a surprise finals run in Season 98, where they ultimately fell to eventual champion De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
The wards of head coach Cromwel Garcia, however, proved it was no fluke, racing to an impressive 6-0 win-loss card to open their Season 99 campaign. However, they lost three straight games to end the elimination round.
On the other side of the court, Arellano, which boasts a winning volleyball culture, is making a Final Four comeback after falling short in the previous season.
As the Lady Chiefs chart an unfamiliar territory, decorated coach Obet Javier said it is vital to let his players understand that the school's championship culture started out from scratch as well.
"Ipapa-realize ko sa kanila 'yung journey namin para makarating ulit dito, napakahirap makapasok dito. And since na nakapasok na tayo, sasabihin ko sa kanila na dapat 'yung next target namin ay mas mataas pa," Javier, the architect behind their three-peat from Season 92 to 94, said.
"Wala namang masama kung mangangarap pa ulit kami kasi doon naman nagsimula ang Arellano sa ilalim eh."
(I'll let them realize what happened in our journey to reach this, it's hard to reach this. Since we're in already, I'll tell them that the next target should be higher. There's nothing wrong to dream again since Arellano started from the bottom.)
In their elimination round meeting, LPU overcame a second set hiccup to pull off a 25-15, 22-25, 25-11, 27-25 victory over Arellano with Johna Dolorito showing her magic with 20 points while Joan Doguna and Jaja Tulang chipped in 16 and 14 markers.
Meanwhile, in the men's division, Arellano will also eye for a lifeline when the fourth-seeded Chiefs take on the Knights in their own stepladder semifinals collision.
Letran actually edged Arellano in their elimination round tussle last April 10 with the Knights pulling off a 24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 victory to open their campaign.
The Brian Esquibel-mentored squad is tipped to continue banking on the troika of Vince Himzon, John Derrick Bautista, and Steven Sta. Maria while Arellano will lean on the core of Adrian Villados, Jiwen Sinuro, AC Guinto, and Carl Berdal.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
