Action in the second semester of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines unwraps this month with high school football while the centerpiece volleyball competition is tentatively tipped to begin mid-February.
According to a Daily Tribune source, league officials will convene today to discuss the schedule and game venues of the remaining sports events of Season 85.
Already set to begin on 22 January is high school football which is coming back after a three-year pandemic hiatus.
Only four teams will participate in the competition with Far Eastern University-Diliman seeking an 11th straight title against a field that includes De La Salle-Zobel, Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas.
“For now, the league already has tentative schedules for the opening of high school basketball, high school football and collegiate volleyball. The rest is still up in the air as the league is still looking for available venues,” the source said.
High school basketball is tentatively booked to start either on 10 or 11 January.
National University sets its sights on completing a three-peat in boys play while the second staging of the girls’ division will also get underway after a three-year absence.
During the inaugural staging of the girls’ basketball back in 2020, Adamson University and UST were declared co-champions as the league had to abruptly end the tournament due the start of the global health crisis.
The much-anticipated volleyball tournament which will be staged with both the women’s and men’s division and the boys’ and girls’ competition is penciled to begin on 18 February.
Venues for the collegiate and high school games are yet to be determined.
NU ruled the Season 84 women’s tilt — the only indoor volleyball contest held in the first UAAP season in the pandemic era — to end a 65-year title drought.
This time NU is not only looking to defend its women’s crown but will also shoot to retain its hold of the throne in the men’s, girls and boys divisions to become the first school in history to sweep all categories of the sport.
Also featured in the second semester are the men’s and women’s football, collegiate and high school baseball, collegiate softball, collegiate and high school fencing, collegiate and high school lawn tennis, seniors and juniors 3×3 basketball, high school beach volleyball and streetdance.
