V-League: Ateneo, Lyceum eye last two Final Four berths

Ateneo de Manila and Lyceum of the Philippines shoot for the last two berths in the semifinals when they take on separate foes in the resumption of the Shakey's V-League Season 7 second conference quarterfinal round Thursday at The Arena in San Juan. The Lady Pirates take on the National University Lady Bulldogs in the 2 p.m. opener while the Lady Eagles battle an equally tough Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws in the other game at 4 p.m. Ateneo swept FEU in the league's season-ending inaugurals last July 11, but the the Lady Tams are expected to go all out and seek payback against the Lady Eagles. A win by FEU over Ateneo will put the Lady Tamaraws in a playoff with the Lady Eagles for the last Final Four seat. Lyceum and Ateneo are currently knotted in third to fourth spots with identical 6-5 slates while FEU is a game behind at 5-6. San Sebastian and Adamson have clinched the first two Final Four berths after finishing the carryover quarters with identical 10-2 cards. The Lady Stags, however, clinched the No. 1 spot in the Final Four with a superior tiebreak score. They play the No. 4 squad in the best-of-three series starting September 9. Both Ateneo and FEU dropped their last matches and will have a lot of adjustments to make. The Lady Eagles will pin their hopes on guest player Alyssa Valdez and Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen and local mainstays Gretchen Ho, Fille Cainglet, Denise Acevedo, Bea Pascua and Angeline Gervacio. – RCJ, GMANews.TV