NU, Adamson jockey for position as Final Four race heats up in UAAP volleyball

Gain momentum and put themselves in a better position to make the Final Four.

These are the goals of the NU Lady Bulldogs and the Adamson Lady Falcons as they clash on Wednesday, April 12 in the resumption of the UAAP Season 85 women's volleyball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Center.

Game is set at 3 p.m.

NU and Adamson entered the Holy Week break on a winning note, with the former defeating UP, 25, 21, 27-25, 25-20, on April 1 and the latter stopping Ateneo on the same day, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24.

The Lady Bulldogs' victory snapped their two-game skid, recovering from those back-to-back losses to La Salle to rise to 6-3, good for the no.4 spot.

On the other hand, the second-running Lady Falcons improved to 7-2 on the strength of a three-game winning streak.

While Adamson clearly has more positive momentum heading into this second round clash, the defending champ NU boasts that mental edge after outlasting the former in their first round meeting, 25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10, on March 1.

But it's been 42 days since that 5-set thriller and 11 days since the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Falcons saw action. So, the question is which team comes out staying sharp and which team comes out getting rusty after a near two-week hiatus.

That concern was the reason why reigning MVP Bella Belen shared that the Lady Bulldogs must prepare physically and mentally during the break.

“We need to prepare physically and mentally because we should not only take care of our bodies. During the Holy Week, we would have a break, family time, and then return to training. We will work hard for our next game,” Belen shared in Filipino.

Belen, who fired 19 points on 18 attacks and one block against UP, looks to lead the charge for the Lady Bulldogs raring to find their dominant form like last year when they swept all of Season 84.

Alyssa Solomon and Ces Robles are also expected to lead the charge for the Karl Dimaculangan-coached NU.

Meanwhile, Khate Santiago and super rookie Trisha Tubu are out to guide the Lady Falcons, who just swept their season series against the Blue Eagles on April 1.

It was the first time that Adamson blanked Ateneo in the eliminations of the UAAP women's volleyball tournament since Season 71 back in 2009.

Santiago and Tubu proved to be that one-two punch for the Jerry Yee-coached Lady Falcons against the Blue Eagles, dropping 18 and 17 points respectively.