UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball: How does the stepladder semifinals work?

The UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament shifts to its postseason on Saturday, with a stepladder semifinals format set to determine who will face De La Salle University in the finals.

Why a stepladder format?

A team that sweeps the elimination round earns an outright berth in the best-of-three finals. This season, the DLSU Lady Spikers accomplished that feat with a perfect 14–0 record.

It marks La Salle’s first elimination-round sweep since Season 76 in 2014.

The last time a stepladder semifinals format was used was four seasons ago, when National University went unbeaten in the eliminations and went on to win the championship.

Elimination round recap

The elimination round concluded on Wednesday, finalizing most of the playoff picture—except for the No. 4 seed.

Far Eastern University defeated Ateneo de Manila University, while National University dealt University of Santo Tomas a loss.

The final standings are:

La Salle 14–0
NU 10–4
Adamson 9–5
UST 8–6
FEU 8–6
UP 5–9
Ateneo 2–12
UE 0–14

UST and FEU will face off for the No. 4 spot.

How the stepladder works

Once the No. 4 team is determined, the stepladder semifinals will proceed as follows:

Round 1: The No. 4 team (winner of UST vs. FEU) faces No. 3 Adamson University. The winner advances.

Round 2: The Round 1 winner takes on No. 2 National University, which holds a twice-to-beat advantage.

Finals: The stepladder winner advances to the best-of-three finals against top-seeded La Salle.

In men’s volleyball, however, the postseason will have a traditional Final Four, with top-seeded and twice-to-beat FEU facing Ateneo de Manila University, and NU taking on UST in a virtual best-of-three as they will first determine the No. 2 spot in a playoff for the twice-to-beat advantage.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News