FANCIED squads De La Salle, College of Saint Benilde, University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Adamson University try to live up to expectations against separate opponents in the Shakey’s Super League National Invitationals Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Action kicks off a 9 a.m. with reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champion De La Salle (1-0) clashing with Cebu Schools Athletic Federation Inc. (CESAFI) runner-up University of Southern Philippines Foundation (0-1) in Pool A followed by the 12 p.m. duel between Adamson University (1-0) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (0-1) in Pool C.
At 2 p.m., UST collides (1-0) with La Salle-Dasmarinas (0-1) in Pool B while two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titlist Saint Benilde tackles Enderun Colleges at 4 p.m. in Pool D to wrap up the short single-round robin eliminations among 12 teams from the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Only the top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout playoffs.
Only Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (0-2) General Santos City in Pool D is out of contention, making the last playdate a waiting game for CESAFI champion University of San Jose Recoletos (1-1) in Pool B and Jose Maria College Foundation (1-1) in Pool C to determine their fates.
While all eyes are on the big guns from the UAAP and the NCAA, unheralded squads like the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) of Cebu and JMCF of Davao have proven their worth so far in the tournament.
USJR took down Luzon La Salle-Dasmarinas, 25-20, 25-18, 25-18, while JMCF stunned NCAA runner-up Lyceum, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24, to stay in playoff contention.