Only one team will leave unscathed when heavyweights Petron and RC Cola-Army take centerstage when the 2016 Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference resumes today (Wednesday) at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The teams will clash at 4:– pm, with both the Tri-Activ Spikers (3-0) and the Lady Troopers (3-0) looking to join the idle F2 Logistics (4-0) on top of the team standings.
Cignal (0-3) meanwhile, will try to put an end to their luckless start when they tangle with Standard Insurance-Navy (1-2) in the nightcap match at 6:00 pm.
After surrendering to powerhouse teams F2 Logistics, RC Cola-Army, and Petron in their first three matches, expect the HD Spikers to go all-out against the Corvettes, not only to finally barge into the win column, but also to regain their shattered morale.
Cignal head coach Sammy Acaylar served as one of the camp’s headmasters
“We need to win this game very badly,” said Cignal coach Sammy Acaylar.
“We lost to very good teams in our first three games. But it’s a very good thing because we can identify and find solutions to our problems in the early stretch of the tournaments. At least we gained a lot of lessons and we’re now ready to make a serious run.”
But still, the game of the day should be the titanic battle between Petron and RC Cola-Army.
Both the Tri-Activ Spikers and the Lady Troopers sliced through their first three games, clobbering their respective foes by wide margins.
RC Cola-Army, in fact, have yet to lose a single set, having crushed their first three opponents Amy’s, Cignal, and Standard Insurance-Navy in straight sets. Same goes for Petron, who clobbered Foton and Cignal in straight sets, though they yielded a set to Generika.
Lady Troopers coach Kungfu Reyes said they have been preparing for this showdown and used the long hiatus to map out a plan for how to punch holes on the Petron’s airtight floor defense, thanks to the hardworking defense specialists Bang Pineda and Jen Reyes.
“They have a very solid floor defense and very good reception,” said Lady Troopers coach Kungfu Reyes.
“That’s our main concern right now. We have to attack their blockers and penetrate their defense to throw them out of their comfort zone on offense.”
On the other hand, Petron coach George Pascua revealed that they have to stop RC Cola-Army’s well-oiled attacks, bannered by Jovelyn Gonzaga, Honey Royse Tubino, and Rachel Anne Daquis, with veteran Tina Salak setting the plays.
“They are at their best when their offense was clicking,” Pascua said. “As we can see in their previous matches, their opponents couldn’t do something when they are showing their championship form on offense. We have to stop them if we want to stand a chance.”
Petron will bank on power-hitting opposite Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and wing spikers Bernadeth Pons and Ces Molina, while Remy Palma and Cherry Nunag take care of probing the middle of the net.
