Lady Bulldogs eye SSL sweep vs Lady Chiefs heading to quarters

MANILA, Philippines – Reigning champion National University shoots for sweep against Arellano to shore up its title retention bid entering the quarterfinals of the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

Still unbeaten in five starts and already assured of the No. 1 spot in Pool E, the Lady Bulldogs want no let-up against the Lady Chiefs (3-2) at 11 a.m. to open the triple-header action in the penultimate day of the carryover playoffs.

Far Eastern University (4-0) also tries to zero in on a sweep in Pool F against two-time NCAA champion College of St. Benilde (3-1) at 2 p.m., followed by the main game at 5 p.m. between Adamson (3-1) and University of the East (2-2), also in Pool F play.

But the spotlight is on NU, which swept the inaugural season to loom as the heavy title favorite anew in the tournament backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers Inc.

NU, under the watch of returning mentor Norman Miguel, is yet to drop a single set in its stellar run so far ignited by a wipeout of Pool A in the elimination round after trouncing UE, Jose Rizal University and San Sebastian College-Recoletos.

The Lady Bulldogs then picked up where they left off in the playoffs featuring the top two teams which carried over their prelims records, making short work of UAAP rivals University of the Santo Tomas, 25-19, 25-20, 25-16, and Ateneo, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15.

Still, the Lady Bulldogs thirst for more.

“Hindi kami dapat magpa-kampante,” ordered ace spiker Mhicaela Belen, the former UAAP Rookie-MVP, who’s banking on the ever-reliable NU support led by reigning SSL MVP Alyssa Solomon.

Standing in the Lady Bulldogs’ way are the undeterred Lady Chiefs, who promised to give their foes a run for their own money after catching a big fish in Ateneo to boost its playoff bid so far in the SSL in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

“Mas gagalingan pa po namin sa next games,” said Marianne Padillon, who’s counting