Heavyweight RC Cola-Army kick off their quest when they battls a young Amy’s Kitchen side in the 2016 Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference tomorrow, 6:00 p.m., at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
The Lady Troopers had won two championships before taking a three-conference leave to play in a different league.
Just a few months ago, RC Cola-Army delivered a preview of their vaunted strength and firepower, squeezing past the Thailand national juniors team in four sets en route to winning the PSL Invitational Cup crown.
It was a historic feat, as it had been the Filipinos’ first victory over the Thais since winning the gold medal in the Singapore Southeast Asian Games 23 years ago. Even with this accomplishment, RC Cola-Army coach Kungfu Reyes has kept downplaying his team’s chances, saying that they are way behind other teams in terms of training and preparation.
“I don’t think we are the team to beat,” said Reyes, a UST coach who had also been the chief deputy of Rico de Guzman when RC Cola-Army cornered their first three crowns. “We just started training last May 15 while other teams were working together for quite some time. “
“We’re still a work in progress and we haven’t reached our peak condition.”
Reyes, however, admitted that their overflowing experience could do wonders, especially against a very young team in Amy’s Kitchen.
“Of course, our experience will be there. That’s our biggest asset,” he said, adding that 39-year-old playmaker Tina Salak remains their leader, while Jovelyn Gonzaga, Rachel Anne Daquis, Honey Royse Tubino, and Nerissa Bautista are still the team’s main attacking options.
On the other hand, Amy’s Kitchen will be banking on Lourdes Clemente, Coleen Bravo, Cindy Imbo, and the core of NCAA powerhouse University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.
In the 4:00 p.m. match, the veteran Standard Insurance Navy Corvettes will lock horns with the upstart Generika Lifesavers.
Generika took a breather in 2015, but will be making their return this year parading a re-tooled roster that has veteran setter Rubie de Leon leading the promising group of Shaya Adorador of UE, Ria Meneses, and Alex Cabanos of UST, Gen Casugod of FEU, and Wensh Tiu of La Salle.
Former National Team tactician Francis Vicente will be manning the sidelines following a fruitful campaign with Philips Gold in the past few conferences.
“The pressure is there because Generika is a franchise that has a championship tradition,” Vicente said. “We have to do our best to live above expectation. We’re a young team and we will work hard and keep on learning.”
A new addition to the league, Navy will look to former Adamson Lady Falcons Pau Soriano and Janet Serafica and former UST Tigress Lilet Mabbayad to anchor their offense.
