Shakey’s V-League q’final set as Davao ousts SSC-R, UST tops Group B
FINAL PRELIMINARY ROUND TEAM STANDINGS
GROUP A:
#1 Ateneo de Manila University (4-1)*†
#2 Arellano University (4-1)*†
#3 Adamson University (4-1)*†
#4 College of St. Benilde (2-3)†
#5 Southwestern University-Cebu (1-4)
#6 St, Louis University-Baguio (0-5)
GROUP B:
#1 University of Santo Tomas (4-1)*†
#2 National University (4-1)*†
#3 Davao Lady Agilas (4-1)*†
#4 Far Eastern University (2-3)†
#5 San Sebastian College-Recoletos (1-4)
#6 University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (0-5)
*Seeding determined by quotient system
†Advanced to quarterfinal round
GAMES ON THRUSDAY (May 1st at The Arena, San Juan City)
2:00PM (A2) Arellano University (1-0) vs. (B2) National University (1-0)
4:00PM (B3) Davao Lady Agilas (0-1) vs. (A1) Ateneo de Manila University (1-0)
THE ARENA, San Juan City—The Davao Lady Agilas leaned on the firepower of University of Mindanao ace Mitch Agton and skipper Venus Flores to eliminate the seemingly lethargic San Sebastian (SSC-R) Lady Stags in straight sets 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 even as the University of Santo Tomas (UST)Tigresses made short work of a depleted University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) squad 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 to claim the top spot in their group on the final day of preliminary competition in the ongoing Shakey’s V-League first conference here.
Had the Lady Stags managed to eke out a win, they would have had to clash with the idle Far Eastern University (FEU) this Thursday (May 1st) to advance to the next round. Instead, the quarterfinals commence on the said date with the following teams moving on:
(NEW) GROUP I:
(A1) Ateneo de Manila University (1-0)
(B1) University of Santo Tomas (1-0)
(A3) Adamson University (0-1)
(B3) Davao Lady Agilas (0-1)
(NEW) GROUP II:
(A2) Arellano University (1-0)
(B2) National University (1-0)
(A4) College of St. Benilde (0-1)
(B4) Far Eastern University (0-1)
For those of you still in the dark on how the quarterfinal round goes, here’s a crash course.
The eight teams that have advanced now form two new groups creatively called Group I and Group II. Group I consists of those that finished first and third in their respective prelims groups while Group II has those that ended the first round second and fourth.
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Notice also there were two three-way deadlocks at the end of the prelims.
The tiebreaker used in Group A was simple: tournament points. Ateneo emerged atop Group A after it complied 13 total points (three points each for its four wins and one point for its lone loss that happened to go five sets). Arellano finished with 12 total points, while Adamson tallied 11.
It was a little more complicated in Group B as UST—by virtue of its victory in their last match against the Perps—secured 13 points and was unopposed at the top spot, but NU and Davao were tied at 11 points apiece.
According to league rules: in case of a three-way tie the quotient system (points quotient and sets quotient) will be applied to all three teams involved to resolve the deadlock—this included the Tigresses who despite having a superior point total was still tied record-wise. The only assurance was UST’s point total would catapult them to number one.
Having done that, NU (Points Ratio 1.195 and Sets Ratio 2.600) outranked Davao (Points Ratio 1.031 and Sets Ratio 1.857), hence the Lady Bulldogs claimed the number two spot in the group.
The parenthesized phonetics to the left of the team name above indicates its final ranking in its original group while the parenthesized phonetics to the right of the team name indicates their carryover record as the team that is not grouped with them and those eliminated in their former groups have been stricken from their slate. To use an example, in the new Group I the Lady Eagles (A1—having topped Group A) have a record of 1-0 against Adamson’s 0-1 because Ateneo beat the Lady Falcons in their group A prelims tiff.
The process now goes that the teams will now go up against the other squads they have not yet faced within their new group. Continuing with the example above, Ateneo (1-0) will no longer be going up against Adamson as they had already gone up against each other in the prelims. The Lady Eagles’ quarterfinal round assignments are UST and Davao (formerly from Group B). The final results of the two quarterfinal clashes with their two new groupmates will determine their rank at the end of this round.
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In short, each team will only have two quarterfinal matches and they carryover the record against their former groupmate. So if Ateneo loses to both the Tigresses and the Lady Agilas their quarterfinal record will be 1-2, however, if the Lady Eagles sweep their two foes, they will finish 3-0. If they split the meetings, they will end up with a 2-1 card.
Since the quarterfinal round only has to matches per qualifier, there is no more room for error—especially for those entering this round with a 0-1 record (Adamson, St. Benilde, Davao and FEU).
The top two from each of the new groups will enter the crossover semifinals while the bottom two will be eliminated. The Final Four will be a Best-Of-Three affair.
The full schedule of this very quick round is as follows:
May 1 (Thursday)—2:00PM – AU (1-0) vs. NU (1-0), 4:00PM – Davao (0-1) vs. AdMU (1-0)
May 4 (Sunday)—2:00PM – CSB (0-1) vs. FEU (0-1), 4:00PM – AdMU vs. UST (1-0)
May 6 (Tuesday)—2:00PM – FEU vs. AU, 4:00PM UST vs. AdU (0-1)
May 8 (Thursday)—2:00PM NU vs. CSB, 4:00PM AdU vs. Davao
May 11 (Sunday)—reserved for playoff/s (in case of ties for the top two spots)
So we’re down to eight teams from twelve that begun the season. With a very short quarterfinal round, every game counts. The bottom rung squads can still barge into the semis if the higher ranked teams drop their guards.
I’ll be broadcasting the initial quarterfinal double-header this Thursday. I expect it to be a full house (owing to it being Labor Day). So you guys better get those tickets or defragment those PCs (for faster live streaming). The real season begins.
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BOX SCORES:
Davao def. San Sebastian—25-18, 25-22, 25-23
DLA—Agton 15, Flores, Tapic 10, Antipuesto 8, Oliveros 5, Raterta 3, Dignadice (L) 0, Berte 0, Concepcion 0, Balse 0, Dawang 0, Enriquez 0.
SSC—Soltones 10, Berbano 9, Devanadera 6, Banaticla 5, Uy 3, Corpuz 3, Mallare 2, Lim 2, Arabe 1, Labiano 1, Eroa (L) 0, M. Crisostomo (L) 0, T. Crisostomo 0, Villegas 0.
UST def. Perpetual Help—25-15, 25-17, 25-17
UST—Laure 11, Lastimosa 10, Tunay 9, de Leon 8, Meneses 6, Dimaculangan 3, Gutierrez 2, Cortez 1, Dusaran (L) 0, Cabanos 0, Santos 0.
UPHSD—Praca 11, Suyat 6, Sta. Maria 4, Medalla 3, Diocareza 2, Cabriana 1, Condada (L) 0, Eniong 0, Abcede 0, Bravo 0, Berba 0.
Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com
