ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Collegiate devider NU guns for semis slot as SSL quarters action begins

NU guns for semis slot as SSL quarters action begins

Published Oct 20, 2025 12:21 pm

At A Glance

  • Teams armed with a twice-to-beat advantage look for a quick Final Four entry against lower-ranked squads seeking to force a sudden death as explosive quarterfinals action in the 2025 Shakey's Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup erupts Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the San Andres Gym in Manila.
(SSL)
(SSL)
(San Andres Gym)
10 a.m. --- NU vs San Beda
12 p.m. --- UST vs Ateneo
2 p.m. --- Adamson vs CSB
4 p.m. --- FEU vs UP
Teams armed with a twice-to-beat advantage look for a quick Final Four entry against lower-ranked squads seeking to force a sudden death as explosive quarterfinals action in the 2025 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup erupts Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the San Andres Gym in Manila.
Three-time defending champion and still unbeaten National University battles San Beda University in the curtain-raiser of the quadruple-header feature set at 10 a.m.
The Lady Bulldogs topped Pool E and secured a quarters incentive after a three-game sweep in the second round of the tournament, backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner and R and B Milk Tea.
NU, which has won six straight games in the competition and nine overall this season - including its flawless championship run in the National Invitationals Davao Leg, remains formidable despite the absence of Sam Cantada and Denesse Daylisan, who are playing for the national team in the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain.
Skipper Vange Alinsug, Chams Maaya, decorated setter Lams Lamina, Alexa Mata and Celine Marsh lead the Lady Bulldogs’ charge against the skidding Pool F No. 4-ranked Lady Red Spikers, who will rely on the tandem of Angel Habacon and Janelle Bachar to pull off an upset.
Meanwhile, streaking University of Santo Tomas faces off against Ateneo de Manila University at 12 p.m.
The Tigresses swept the second round for the No. 1 seed in Pool F and a twice-to-beat bonus.
“Napakahalaga nu’ng nag-No. 1 kami sa pool namin kasi may madadala kaming (twice-to-beat) advantage sa quarterfinals. And madadala namin ang momentum pagdating sa next game,” said UST's young setter Arlene Waje, who dished out 16 excellent sets in the Tigresses’ sweep of San Beda to end the second round.
The Blue Eagles have lost five consecutive games, including a winless run in the second round of the competition, supported by Asics, Mikasa, Smart Sports, Summit, Team Rebel Sports, Belo Deo, Eurotel- Apo View Hotel, Batangas Country Club, Executive Optical, Baic Auto Philippines, SM Tickets and PusoP.com as technical partners.
On the other hand, Pool E No. 2 seed and also sporting a quarters incentive Adamson University collides with College of Saint Benilde at 2 p.m. while Pool F second seed Far Eastern University squares off with a twice-to-win disadvantaged University of the Philippines at 4 p.m.
If necessary, do-or-die matches in the quarters will be played on Friday at the Paco Arena.
Twice-to-beat advantage will be given to higher-seeded teams, based on their rankings in the second round, that will advance to the semifinals.
Quarterfinals losers will be relegated to the classification round.
Games in the SSL Preseason Unity Cup are available live and on demand via PusoP.com and Solar Sports.
###
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.