Letran eyes return to NCAA women's finals; Mapua makes rare Final Four appearance in men's volleyball

Colegio de San Juan de Letran is eyeing another stint in the NCAA women's volleyball finals when it takes on no. 3 seed Arellano University, while Mapua University is making a rare Final Four appearance in men's play as it faces Arellano's men's team.

The twice-to-beat Lady Knights will battle the Lady Chiefs for the second finals ticket on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. but prior to that, no. 2 seed Cardinals will battle the Chiefs at 11 a.m. at the Filoil Centre in San Juan.

Letran finished the elimination round at no. 2 with a 15-3 record and won back-to-back to finish the second round. 

For head coach Oliver Almadro, however, they will just focus on the game and prepare without thinking of their advantage.

"We have to be ready going into the semifinals. We thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to be in the Final Four for two years in a row and we always pray to God na bigyan ulit kami ng chance makapasok sa championship and His will will be done sa championship," Letran head coach 

"We have to think of that game lang first. We have to think that there's no advantage or disadvantage. We have to prepare and dumating sa game na ready kami."

The Lady Knights have plenty in their arsenal as they eye their second consecutive finals appearance.

Rookie Vanessa Sarie, the league's top scorer, has been making waves in the NCAA as she broke the NCAA scoring record when she exploded for 37 points in their game against Arellano. Following Sarie in the scoring list for this season is Judiel Nitura, who is also the league's best server. Gia Maquilang, meanwhile, has found her groove and was the league's top spiker at the end of the elimination round, while veteran libero Lara Mae Silva has topped the digging and receiving categories.

Arellano, meanwhile, has been pushing teams to the limits.

The Lady Chiefs won against fellow Final Four team Mapua University in the second round and Letran in the first round. Arellano is also in a three-game winning streak where it defeated Perpetual, EAC, and LPU. 

At the end of the elimination round, Arellano finished with a 12-6 card to claim the third spot.

"Siyempre, masaya kami dahil 'yong target namin [ngayong] season is nakuha namin. So sabi ko nga last time, 'yong makapasok muna kami sa Final Four, nakuha naman tapos saka kami na i-ta-target sa susunod," Arellano head coach Obet Javier said.

Arellano will have to rely on this season's third leading scorer in Laika Tudlasan, Marianne Padillon, and Sam Tiratira, as they Lady Chiefs hope to repeat what they did in the first round, and eventually force a do-or-die against the Lady Knights.

In the men's division, meanwhile, Mapua and Arellano will battle for a slot in the finals.

The Cardinals, led by Barbie San Andres and Arjay Ramos, capped the elimination round at second place with a 14-4 card, but have suffered back-to-back losses before the Final Four.

This season's top 1 and 3 scorers, San Andres and Ramos, are marked men coming into the Final Four but will be backed by the likes of Olsen Jamisola and setter Juancho Barba.

Mapua has also been shaky lately as they absorbed all their losses in the second round after completing a first round sweep. The Cardinals also suffered their first loss this season against Arellano.

They are, however, motivated as they made their first Final Four appearance in the league's recent history.

Arellano, meanwhile, ended the prelims on a four-game streak to finish third with a 13-5 win-loss card.

Carl Berdal and AC Guinto lead the crop of scorers which also includes Penny Curamen, and Jiwen Sinuto. Adrian Villados, the league's top setter, will also join the Chiefs as they look to spoil Mapua's party.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News