When it comes to offense, the two teams Ateneo and San Sebastian comes to mind. Ateneo having a very good combination of attackers in Miss Em-orn Phanusit, Miss Maria Rosario Soriano, Miss Maria Carmina Denise Acevedo and Miss Patricia Lynn Taganas who are not just powerful but smart attackers. San Sebastian will not be off the spotlight as they also have Miss Jareonsri Bualee, Miss Laurence Anne Latigay, Miss Jacqueline Mondejar and Miss Rysabelle Devanadera to match up well with the attackers of Ateneo. The former plays a smart attacking while the latter plays the power hitting kind of game. But one thing’s common. They both use combination plays and they have the same coach so expect a very similar and sister teams Ateneo and San Sebastian when they play this Final Four. Will the attackings of both teams prevail over the defensive teams? It’s for you guys to find out.

When looking at the statistical sheet, each team has their own kind of strength and weakness. Ateneo’s strongest point is serving since all of their starting six can actually convert mainly on serves with Miss Charo Soriano, Miss Misha Quimpo and Miss Karla Bello doing the jump serve and jump float respectively. And Miss Maria Carmina Denise Acevedo, Miss Em-orn Phanusit and Miss Patricia Lynn Taganas who are doing standing floaters and serves in which we can call service “na may laman”. Ateneo’s weakness is blocking where they dropped to the sixth rank. So low as compared last conference where they were the top in blocking led by of course their Thai Guest Player in Miss Lithawat Kesinee. This conference, I only saw a few blocks from the team although it’s nice to see that everyone in the starting six has at least blocked two balls, including Karla Bello.

San Sebastian meanwhile’s strongest aspect is the attacking, setting and receiving. Attacking because obviously, all of their other five attackers in the team can actually score using power plays care of Miss Jacqueline Mondejar, Miss Laurence Anne Latigay, Miss Melissa Mirasol, Miss Rysabelle Devanadera and Miss Jaroensri Bualee. Setting is solely because of Miss Charisse Vernon Ancheta who is by the way doing a good job distributing sets for the Red and Gold Team of Recto. Receiving is one aspect they excel in since they actually have a good libero in Miss Mary Jane Pepito. Likewise, aside from her, the other players like Miss Laurence Anne Latigay and Miss Jacqueline Mondejar have been contributing a lot in the receiving area. Based on the statistics, they are the seventh rank when it comes to blocking. This is mainly because the team is concentrated more on floor defense and attacking. Notice that when you have a good floor defense, you tend to slack off already in blocking. That’s probably one problem San Sebastian has to fix.

It is interesting to note that San Sebastian and Ateneo who are both coached by Coach Roger Gorayeb are good in attacking, setting and receiving but poor in blocking.

Adamson’s forte is surprisingly the three offensive options in the volleyball skills. They are the 2nd ranked team in terms of attacking, blocking, setting and serving. Attacking is mainly because of Miss Neriza Bautista who has been doing a great job as guest player and likewise as a leader for the San Marcelino-based squad. Of course, who wouldn’t notice the vast improvements of Miss Janet Serafica, Miss Michaelle Segodine, Miss Angela Benting and Miss Rissa Jane Laguilles in their team. Blocking is their forte mainly because of Miss Michaelle Segodine, who given her height, is very much active in the net defense. Serving is another factor since any player in their team can score right away with serves. Setting of course is taken care of Miss Janet Serafica who is doing also a good job making the Lady Falcons contribute points like the other two from Ateneo and San Sebastian. Though floor defense oriented, the Adamson’s weakness is actually digging and receiving. It is not totally a weakness but a mere level lower compared to other teams since they ranked third in both area.

Lyceum’s cream of the crop skills are based on their blocking and setting. Blocking is of course taken care of their dynamic duo Miss Beverly Boto and Miss Dahlia Cruz who are both tall players as well. Setting is based on Miss Mary Grace Babalo’s performance, who like the three previous setters, is doing a good job in making decisions and doing plays inside the court. However, a team also has its own flaws as Lyceum is not the cherry on top any more in the two floor defense aspects digging and receiving and also serving. We usually see Lyceum scrambling for floor defense and having a lot of miscommunication errors in this area. Likewise, we can also see them having a lot of errors with regards to service that’s why some teams can catch up because of these three skills.

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