Defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers and the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, losers in their last games, look to bounce back today as they take on each other in the main game at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Dropped their last assignments in the first round of the eliminations, La Salle (5-2) and FEU (4-3) try to get their campaign in the second half of the season off to a good start in their encounter scheduled for 4 p.m.
La Salle begins the second round coming off a four-sets loss in its marquee match with archrivals Ateneo Lady Eagles, 26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17, last Saturday that saw it blew sizable leads in the first two sets.
Apart from losing to the Lady Eagles during their rivalry match, the Lady Spikers also lost the opportunity to claim the top spot in the standings at the end of the first round.
Kim Dy, Majoy Baron, Aduke Ogunsanya and Kim Fajardo all scored in double-digits in said game but it proved to be not enough to tow the Lady Spikers to the win.
La Salle is so determined to get back on the winning track that after its Ateneo loss the team refused to grant interviews to members of the media, vowing instead to come back in its next game.
Looking to stop the Lady Spikers while giving their cause a boost are the Lady Tamaraws, which lost to the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses in four sets previously, 25-16, 21-25, 26-24 and 25-20.
Chin-Chin Basas top-scored for FEU in the losing cause while Bernadeth Pons backstopped her with 14 markers.
Prior to the defeat, the Lady Tamaraws were on a roll, winning their last three games to reenter their name as a team to contend with in the ongoing season.
In the opening round, La Salle defeated FEU in straight sets, 29-27, 25-22 and 25-23.
NU vs Adamson
Meanwhile, in the first game at 2 p.m., the National University Lady Bulldogs (4-3) attempt to start another win streak after going back on the winning track last time around, engaging the hapless Adamson Lady Falcons (0-7).
The Lady Bulldogs survived a gruelling five-setter against the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons (4-3) in their previous game, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25 and 15-12, to stop their erstwhile three-game losing skid.
Adamson, for its part, is looking for its breakthrough victory under American coach Air Padda.
The Lady Falcons competed against the University of the East Lady Warriors (1-6) in a battle of winless teams in their last assignment but fell in the end in four sets, 25-22, 20-25, 25-17 and 25-18.