We here at Volleyball Source often find ourselves looking at volleyball news from other countries.  We see it as part of our job to bridge the gap and inform our readers of new parts of the game they might not have known about before.  As a result of all of this, we're constantly learning about tournaments, events and leagues all around the world and what makes them special.

Today I learned about The UAAP.

The University Athletics Association of the Philippines is an 8 school league with four volleyball divisions (boy's, girl's, men's and women's).  The UAAP is in it's 77th season with the first volleyball championship taking place in 1939.

Tournament Format

The UAAP has a pretty interesting tournament format for their volleyball championships.  Here's the explanation from Wikipedia:

The tournament begins with a double round eliminations, where a team meets its opponent twice in a season. A semi-finals round composed of the top four teams follows, after which the top two teams meet in a best-of-three series Finals.

In the semi-Finals, the top four teams based on team standings (and tie-breakers, if applicable) from the elimination round battle for a Finals slot. The two top seeds have a twice-to-beat advantage, that is they must be beaten twice in order to be eliminated. The lower seeds, on the other hand, are eliminated when they are defeated once. The surviving teams face off in a best-of-three Finals, where the team which notches two wins wins the championship.

If a team wins all of the games in the elimination round, the step ladder format is used, where the unbeaten team has a bye to the Finals. The third and fourth seed will figure in a knockout game; the winner of that game will face the second seed which has a twice-to-beat advantage. The surviving team meets the first seed team in the Finals. The latter will have a thrice-to-beat advantage for sweeping the elimination round.

This tournament is going on right now and one team did win all 14 games in the elimination round.

Let's Break it Down

• Ateneo de Manila Lady Eagles swept all 14 elimination games so they get a bye into the final.  Whoever plays them, has to beat them three times to win the championship.  However, if the Lady Eagles win one match, they win the championship.  This is called thrice-to-beat.
• The second place team, De La Salle University, will play the winner of #3 vs. #4 with a twice-to-beat system in place.  They have to be defeated twice in a row to lose their spot.
• Who are the #3 and #4 teams?  There is a five-way tie right now to take those last two spots.

teneo has to win one more match to win the championship.  A challenger might have to win as many as 7 more matches to win the championship.  Talk about a great reason to finish the regular season undefeated.

Live Streams

Check out the live streams today as five teams battle for a shot at the step-ladder match.  There are also some very close multi-way ties in the men's championship as well.  We'll update this link throughout the tournament as well so you can check out all live streaming volleyball action from the UAAP Season 77 Volleyball Championship.

Cover Photo: Rappler