Fearless Forecast: UAAP 76 Final Four

Okay. Here we go. Judging by the way the players are performing in this year's Shakey's V-league, here is my very early fearless forecast for UAAP season 76's top 4 in Women's Volleyball after the eliminations.

1. DLSU - Yeah. This one's quite obvious. The team, still to be led by the very powerful team captain Abigail Maraño, looks too strong to be thrown out from the top position. They will pretty much be the same team we saw last year minus Gohing and Tiu, who are not really their key players although Gohing is a great libero and Tiu contributed some points in their previous games. With the addition of interesting rookies like Cheng, plus the excellent coaching of Coach Ramil and the team's solid attitude on the court, this team is still the one to beat. Strongest Weapons: Maraño/Reyes.

2. NU - Surprise! Honestly, if you ask me what my favorite team is, it would be ADMU. But daym! These girls look so strong this season they might knock ADMU out of the finals! With the addition of the other Santiago, Jaja Santiago (who isn't enrolled in any university yet by the way), this squad looks really formidable with probably the greatest attackers in the league. The Santiagos supported by Pablo and Urdas are almost unstoppable when it comes to scoring through attacks. The team still has two big holes to be filled, the libero and the setter positions. Scrappy setting from Perez will not cut it. And although their blocking has greatly improved thanks to J. Santiago, they still need to work on their floor defense. Strongest Weapons: J and D Santiago

3. ADMU - Well, we all know this team still has Valdez but seriously, if she can't win the championship with the Fab 5 behind her, it will be harder this time without them to support her. Her teammates in the upcoming season are either too inexperienced like Tajima and Ahomiro, too short like De Jesus and G. Tan, or too weak and slow like Tejada and Llaneta. Compared to their counterparts from the above-listed teams, Ateneo's players need to improve like hell in order to keep up. Rookies like Patnongon, Gopico, and Gequillana have to step up right away. If Ahomiro, Tajima, Patnongon and Tejada will not improve on their blockings and attacks, this team will surely be NOT in the finals. Lazaro is still there though and this team is known for having good floor defense so that will be a plus factor. Strongest Weapons: Valdez and Lazaro.

4. Hmm. This is hard. I'm torn between UST and AdU. 

UST - With Caballejo and Ortiz leaving, this team needs a new leader. I can see De Leon, Lastimosa and Tunay showing lots of great promise but I think this team needs the leadership of a more experienced player like Banaticla. Maru has been benched for most of the latest UAAP and Shakey's V-league games (which I don't think she deserves) but I think she needs to step up as the leader for this relatively young team. Recruitment has to improve for this squad since the competition is getting tougher. UST's young attackers can deliver points but they will be trampled upon by the giants of NU and DLSU and even ADMU's weaker tall players. I hope Lantin will continue developing as a strong setter and De Leon will maintain her excellent job guarding the net. Strongest Weapons: Lantin and De Leon.

AdU - Without the leadership and excellent play of Pau Soriano, this squad is also in extreme need of HEIGHT. Although Guevarra and Paat are doing well in the blocking department, they need to be more active offensively. Pineda and Zapanta will have to double their courage and effort in trying to score despite the much taller blockers from the other teams. Their floor defense can still work wonders for this humble and often underrated team. If they can keep that flawless floor defense, they'll have a good chance of getting in the Top 4. Strongest Weapons: Pineda and Paat.

Dark Horses:

UP - Amazing list of new recruits for this young team and a new coach to boot!

FEU - This team played some really good games last year. I heard they're rebuilding. Hmm. We'll see.

Comments?