National University stepped up its drive for a title repeat, wiping out Pool E capped by a 25-17, 25-22, 25-13 win over Arellano U in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 playoffs on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The reigning champions met little to no resistance from the Lady Chiefs in pocketing the win in only 80 minutes of play for a 6-0 record heading into the quarterfinals as Pool E’s No. 1 seed.
NU’s dominance in Pool E, where it also trounced Ateneo and University Santo Tomas, was only a continuation of its Pool A conquest that featured similar easy wins against Jose Rizal U, University of the East and San Sebastian College-Recoletos.
Against the Lady Chiefs, all NU players hit the scoring board for the Lady Bulldogs, led by Evangeline Alinsug with 14 points on 13 hits.
Rookie Arah Ellah Panique and Mhicaela Belen had eight points each, while reigning SSL MVP Alyssa Solomon added seven.
“Going into the quarterfinals then semifinals, nandiyan na ‘yung top teams. Patawid na kami sa kabilang bracket,” said returning coach Norman Miguel. “Ang goal talaga namin is to reach the finals and get the championship.”
The Lady Bulldogs, who have yet to yield a single set, will sport twice-to-beat incentive against the No. 4 team in Pool F of the SSL Season 2 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, the UAAP Season 84 champion and Season 85 runner-up, stamped its class over the NCAA bet by posting double-digit leads in the two convincing sets, save for a closer second-set duel it won by only three points.
Laika Tudlasan was the lone Lady Chief in twin figures with 11 points as Arellano wrapped up its playoff campaign at 3-3, needing to wait for the final games today to determine its quarterfinal ranking.
The Lady Chiefs stunned Ateneo in the playoff opener before bowing to UST to become the only NCAA team other than champion College of St. Benilde to make a deep run in the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.
All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.