REIGNING champion National Universofy and challenger University of Santo Tomas lock horns in an all-UAAP duel as the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship reaches a thrilling finale on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

Game time is at 5 p.m. with the Lady Bulldogs looking to draw first blood in the quick best-of-three titular showdown and move closer to another perfect season.

NU swept the inaugural season capped by a dominant finale show against La Salle before drawing another UAAP rival in UST this time for the crown of SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Included in NU’s amazing run that season was a 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17 win over UST in the knockout semifinals.

This season, the Lady Bulldogs reasserted their mastery of the Golden Tigresses with an easy 25-19, 25-20, 25-16 win in the pool play as part of their immaculate campaign so far through eight games without any single set yielded.

But preserving a perfect run so far is not the goal, warned coach Norman Miguel, as the Lady Bulldogs want no less than the ultimate championship prize regardless of the sets needed to do it.

“Going to the finals, mas competitive na kalaban. Wala naman kaming goal na kailangan straight sets. Ang goal namin, manalo. Basta manalo lang,” said Miguel, who’s looking to mark his NU return with a bang.

“Kasi nakaka-diminish ng pressure ‘yung hindi nyo iisipin na dapat laging 3-0. Ayoko ng ganun. Syempre nagta-trabaho din yung mga kalaban mo.”

Against all odds though, the Kungfu Reyes-mentored UST squad is out to give NU a run for its own money, especially riding on the momentum of a two-game winning streak from a near elimination just to earn a shot at the defending champion.

The twice-to-beat-armed Golden Tigresses, after absorbing a 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 11-15 loss against College of St. Benilde in Game 1 of the quarterfinals, retaliated with a 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 32-30 win in Game 2 before edging out Far Eastern Universoty in the knockout semis, 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20.

Meanwhile, FEU and Adamson slug it out for a podium finish at 2 p.m. in the bronze medal match, also under a best-of-three series, of the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

In other games, Ateneo and Arellano battle for the seventh spot at 9 a.m. followed by the duel between St. Benilde and the University of the East at 11 a.m.

All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.