Restless fans demand tickets on eve of Ateneo-La Salle 5

MANILA, Philippines - To use a social media word – this is one title showdown that goes “viral” every time.

It can’t get any bigger than this: Ateneo and La Salle engaging in a titanic battle for the UAAP’s top prize for the fifth straight time.

Featuring two sides with storied rivalry and championship pedigree, this duel has generated a lot of excitement and heightened anticipation.

Two days before hostilities begin, fans are flooding social media with questions like “when will they start selling tickets?” and “where can we buy tickets?” and giving ticket outlets a call with similar inquiries.

Tickets are expected to fly by when they do start selling them. A sea of blue and green is set to fill the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the MOA Arena.

That’s par for the course for the popular volleyball teams of Ateneo and La Salle – the only non-basketball squads capable of packing the country’s biggest arena with spectators.

Looking at the numbers, the Lady Eagles and the Lady Spikers have been attracting hordes of followers for the fifth year now.

In the Season 75 finals, 17,342 witnessed the first game at the Big Dome then it ballooned to 18,779 for Game Two at the MOA Arena.

The following season, they played Game Three in front of 18,095 then duked it out in a winner-take-all before a record 21,314 fans.

Last year, they hit 20,705 in crowd attendance in Game Two.

This season, they drew 16,537 in the first round and 19,266 in the second round.

From the looks of it, the best-of-three finals will continue the trend.

“Parehong uhaw at motivated manalo ang dalawa kaya matinding laban ito (Both are keen and motivated so we expect a great fight),” one observer said.