Games today:

Smart Araneta Coliseum

2 p.m. — NU vs UST (m)

4 p.m. — NU vs UST (w)

The battle for supremacy in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 volleyball tournament begins today when National University (NU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) kick off their best-of-three showdown in both the men’s and women’s categories at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But the focus will be on the immensely-popular women’s action scheduled at 4 p.m. with skipper Bella Belen leading the Lady Bulldogs against the Golden Tigresses crew spiked with a high-flying rookie in Angge Poyos.

Spicing up the main event is the 2 p.m. clash in men’s play featuring the defending champions Bulldogs and the fourth seed Golden Spikers.

Belen can’t help but express her excitement as she aims to bring NU back to the top after losing to De La Salle University in Season 85.

“Of course, it’s exciting because most of the players of UST are our friends or someone we know. UST really fights back, their hunger really shows when they play. But, we won’t be taking it easy in the game,” Belen said.

“We’ll really give it our one hundred percent effort to win and make it difficult for them because we know that they won’t give up the game that easy. I’m happy that I’ll be facing Detdet (Pepito) in the finals, (since) we used to be teammates in elementary and then we competed against each other in high school,” she added.

Heading into the finals, NU needed to fend off Far Eastern University in a Final Four decider.

Meanwhile, UST shocked the tournament by its rather easy win over La Salle with the Tigresses pulling the plug on the Taft-based team after just one semis game and not having to go through an exhausting knockout match.

UST head coach Kungfu Reyes boasts of a formidable cast,

Apart from Poyos, he can also count on Regine Jurado, Jonna Perdido, setter Cassie Carballo, and libero Detdet Pepito as UST aims to make it all the way to the top in their first title try in five years.

“Actually, this team is really balanced. From offense to defense. What’s good about it is that our defense is much stronger. Our attackers are good, even if they’re not that tall,” Reyes said.

“They’re fearless. There’s no hesitation. There’s no doubt. So that’s why the kids perform well.”

In men’s play, looks can be deceiving despite the Golden Spikers appearing as underdogs against the defending champions Bulldogs.

Fueled by losses against back-to-back Most Valuable Player sophomore Josh Ybañez-led UST in their two meetings during the elimination phase, expect NU to go full blast as it guns for its fourth crown in nine straight finals appearances.

The España-based squad, meanwhile, knows what they are up against, toughened by their twin kill of first seed FEU, which is shooting to end a 12-year title drought.