ON THE PROWL

After stamping its class in the first round, University of Santo Tomas collides with Ateneo de Manila University Wednesday as the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 women's volleyball tournament second round gets under way at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Parading a 7-0 win-loss card, the Tigresses look poised to rack up another victory in the 4 p.m. encounter as they approximate their finest start since the 2006-2007 championships with nine straight wins.

National University, which finished third behind UST and defending champion La Salle in the first round, plays University of the Philippines in the 2 p.m. opener.

The Tigresses defied all preseason forecasts by completing a seven-match sweep of the first round, including victories against the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Spikers, the league's most recent champions.

Libero Det Pepito, who took the captaincy after UST lost several key players led by Eya Laure and Imee Hernandez who are now in the pros, was satisfied with the way her team performed in the first round.

The Tigresses' super rookie Angge Poyos became the first-round top attacker with a 42.07 percent success rate and second behind setter Cassie Carballo in service with a 0.44 average per set.

Carballo is having a great sophomore season for UST, being the league's top playmaker with a 4.96 average per set on top of being the best in the service zone with a 0.48 average per set.

"So happy and of course, I believe that everything you work hard for produce good results," Pepito said.

"In training, we worked hard and didn't relax because we like to push ourselves so that we bring the same intensity during games."

Currently tied with Adamson in fifth place with a 2-5 record, there's a lot of catching up to do for Ateneo as it trails fourth-running Far Eastern University (4-3) by two games in the race for the last Final Four slot.

A victory over Ateneo will serve as a good springboard for UST heading into the Palm Sunday showdown with NU.

The Lady Bulldogs hope to score a repeat of their 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 conquest of the Fighting Maroons last 2 March.

Coming off a tough five-set loss to La Salle in last Saturday's Finals rematch, NU is ready to pick up the pieces and move on to press its bid for a slot in the top two after the eliminations.

UP, for its part, seeks to carry the momentum of last Sunday's 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17 victory over University of the East to give new coach Oliver Almadro his first win. Maroons.

In the men's division, the Bulldogs seek solo first place against the Fighting Maroons at 10 a.m. while the Golden Spikers try to avenge their five-set loss to the Blue Eagles in the first round at 12 p.m.