Santo Tomas, FEU in do-or-die match

MANILA, Philippines — It’s win or go home as old rivals Santo Tomas and Far Eastern U dispute the last Final Four ticket in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

FEU and Santo Tomas hold the most championships in UAAP women’s volleyball with 29 and 16 titles, respectively. But only one will have a chance to add to that treasure chest when they collide at 3 p.m.

The Lady Tamaraws and the Golden Tigresses finished the elims with similar 8-6 slates for a tie at fourth place, paving the way for a playoff in the grueling stepladder Final Four format.

La Salle, dead serious in redeeming the crown, wiped out the entire opposition at 14-0 to earn an outright finals berth and transform the traditional Final Four to a rare stepladder also featuring National U (10-4) and Adamson (9-5) at second and third, respectively.

It’s the first stepladder since the 16-0 sweep of NU in 2022 led by now PVL star Bella Belen and a first for La Salle since 2014.

NU gained the No. 2 spot while Adamson is next on the ladder, awaiting the survivor between FEU and Santo Tomas, which will face NU for the second final slot.

Adamson, in its first Final Four appearance in three seasons, will be led by the soon-to-be-crowned Season 88 MVP Shaina Nitura after the final statistical tally from the two-round eliminations.