THREE of the four leading teams and one trying to crash through the backdoor collide in a pair of matches that could clear or mess up the semis race in the Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig today.
Creamline goes all-out for the first Final Four berth against a PLDT side hot on a four-game run while joint third-running F2 Logistics faces a Choco Mucho crew seeking to stay in the conversation heading to the final stretch of the single round eliminations.
The Cool Smashers rebounded from a tough five-set setback to the F2 Logistics squad with big victories over the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and the Army Lady Troopers as the defending champions regained the solo lead at 5-1 following a couple of reversals that stymied the bids of the Cargo Movers and the Crossovers.
But the High Speed Hitters silently but effectively put themselves in strong contention with a sweep of their last four matches after dropping a five-setter to the Cargo Movers last Feb. 7, making them the hottest squad among the chief semis contenders in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
With both teams coming off a week-long rest, the Creamline-PLDT duel at 4 p.m. is expected to be tight and fierce although the Cool Smashers will most likely bank on their firepower to halt their rivals’ charge and formalize their stint in post-elims play.
But PLDT coach Rald Ricafort has whipped his squad, made up of Mika Reyes, Jovie Prado, Dell Palomata and Mean Mendrez and reinforced by Michelle Morente, into one fighting, cohesive unit with their new recruit norming 13.2 points in their last four games,
Creamline, however, boasts not only of talents in Tots Carlos, Jema Galanza, Ced Domingo and Michele Gumabao but also of championship experience, having reigned in this conference, the former Open, the last three editions.
