The NU Lady Bulldogs during Game 2 of the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on May 15, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA -- With last year's champion De La Salle University taking a leave of absence, all eyes will be on National University when the 2024 Shakey's Super League (SSL) National Invitationals opens on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Lady Bulldogs, who are coming off a championship campaign in UAAP Season 86, will have a target on their backs starting with a Pool A showdown against Enderun at 12:00 p.m.

NU will parade its veteran core led by two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Bella Belen and Arah Panique. Also seeing action for the Lady Bulldogs are veterans Vange Alinsug, Sheena Toring, Erin Pangilinan, setter Lams Lamina and libero Shaira Jardio.

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Belen and Panique will suit up for NU in their first two assignments before joining the national team Alas Pilipinas in a training camp in Japan. However, UAAP Finals MVP Alyssa Solomon will skip the competition as she continues to recuperate from an injury.   

Raising the curtains at 9:00 a.m. is the match-up between University of San Carlos and Letran in Pool D. At 2:00 p.m., it will be University of Santo Tomas and University of Batangas in a Pool B match, before Pool C squads University of Southern Philippines Foundation and Far Eastern University cap the first day of competition at 4 p.m.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann and commissioner Fritz Gaston will grace the simple opening rites set at 11 a.m. 

Also participating in the tournament featuring the top three teams from the UAAP, NCAA and two of the best squads from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are  Xavier University-Northern Mindanao Selection in Pool A, Team SOCCSKSARGEN (Southern Mindanao Selection) in Pool B, NCAA champion College of Saint Benilde in Pool D and NCAA third placer Lyceum of the Philippines University in Pool C.

La Salle, which defeated Adamson University in the gold medal match last year, begged off from joining the tournament to rest its injury-riddled roster. 

All teams play in a single round-robin group stage where the top two teams in each bracket will advance to the crossover knockout quarterfinals. The semifinals will also be played in a do-or-die affair.

The championship and battle for bronze are both best-of-three series. In case the title showdown ends in two games and the battle for third pairing is tied after Game 2, the bronze medal winner will be decided via FIVB tiebreak.

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