Joy Benito of San Sebastian College (center) is challenged by College of St. Benilde defenders Zhar Velez (left) and Ren Agero during their Shakey’s V-League encounter last Monday. SSC won, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21, 25-16. (Photo by BOB DUNGO JR.)

Games on Friday
(The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. - Adamson vs CSB
4 p.m. - Ateneo vs UST

Already assured of the No. 1 spot in the Final Four, University of Santo Tomas coach Shaq Delos Santos talked as though they, and not the Ateneo Lady Eagles, badly need a win in their match on Friday in the sixth Shakey’s V-League.

“We know we don’t need that win, but our goal is to play 100 percent every game,” said Delos Santos after the Tigresses scored a 25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22 win over Far Eastern University Tuesday to hike their record to 10-1 at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Eagles are tied with the Adamson Lady Falcons at fourth on similar 6-5 record and both teams must win their last quarterfinal assignments on Friday to forge a playoff for the fourth and last semis slot.

The pairing favors Adamson to clinch the last ticket.

The Lady Falcons, for one, will have lowly College of St. Benilde Lady Blazers as their opponent at 2 p.m. while the Lady Eagles need more than luck to get past the Tigresses.

While they can afford to drop their game against Ateneo, delos Santos and the Tigresses appear to be in no mood to be generous.

“Our objective is to get ready for the Final Four, so we can’t afford to just give away that game to Ateneo,” Delos Santos said.

San Sebastian had earlier secured the No. 2 spot following a 25-23, 24-26, 25-21, 25-16 victory over the Blazers in the tourney backed by Mikasa, Accel, OraCare, and Mighty Bond. They finished with an 8-4 record.

The loss dropped FEU to third with a 7-5 card and its outright semis bid was put in jeopardy.

A three-way tie for fourth would ensue should Ateneo and Adamson hurdle their respective rivals tomorrow.

In case of a triple-tie for third, the FIVB rules will be applied with the team with the highest tiebreak score clinching the third spot and the other two clashing for the last berth in a one-game playoff.