Games on Friday
(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
11:30 a.m. – CSB vs SSC-R
1 p.m. – Mapua vs Perpetual
3:30 p.m. – UP vs JRU
6 p.m. – Arellano vs NU
COLLEGE of St. Benilde (CSB) spikes for the last playoff ticket from Pool D against San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R) in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Game time is at 11:30 a.m. with the Lady Blazers looking to be the lone NCAA team in the next round after the seven UAAP teams booked their slots.
The three-time NCAA champion on Wednesday took down Adamson, 25-13, 25-22, 25-19, to potentially spoil an all-UAAP playoffs and control its own fate at 1-1.
Far Eastern University (3-0) already topped Pool D, National University (3-0) and Ateneo de Manila University (3-1) led Pool A, University of Santo Tomas (3-0) and University of the East (3-1) headlined Pool B with De La Salle University (3-0) and University of the Philippines (1-1) spearheading Pool C.
And the pressure now is on the Lady Blazers to take care of business.
A win by St. Benilde would assure it a playoff spot while a loss would give way to a triple-tie with Adamson (1-2) and San Sebastian (0-2) in which scenario that the Lady Falcons would hold a superior quotient to advance to still make it an all-UAAP playoffs.
Meanwhile, also-ran squads Mapua University (0-3) and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (0-3) go for graceful exits at 1 p.m. in Pool B while UP (1-1) collides in a no-bearing match with Jose Rizal University (0-2) in Pool C at 3:30 p.m.
Capping the quadruple-header ender of the elimination rounds is the sweep bid of back-to-back champion NU against Arellano University (2-1) at 6 p.m.
Teams will carry over their preliminary round points and play another round-robin in the next phase starting on Sunday with the top two teams from each pool earning twice-to-beat bonuses in the crossover quarterfinals. — John Bryan Ulanday