Sister teams Creamline and Choco Mucho hope to ride on a pair of straight-set romps in pursuit of a second straight win and a continued share of the lead as they tangle with rivals out to rebound from their opening-game setbacks in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Filoil Ecooil Center in San Juan today (Thursday).
The Cool Smashers face the Cignal HD Spikers at 4 p.m. while the Flying Titans slug it out with the Petro Gazz Angels in the 6:30 p.m. main dish marking the third elims playdate of the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
The crowd favorites hardly missed the services of recuperating skipper and top hitter Alyssa Valdez in dismantling the Angels, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22, to kick off their title-retention drive at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Saturday.
Michele Gumabao, back on the starting roster in the absence of Valdez and following the import-laced Reinforced Conference, and middle-blocker Ced Domingo matched 13-point outputs while the heavy-handed Tots Carlos added 11 markers and Pangs Panaga chipped in 10 points to lead the Cool Smashers’ assault.
Jema Galanza, a key figure in Creamline’s two-conference title run last year, took the backseat this time and settled for six points, leaving much of the scoring load for Gumabao and Carlos.`
But the former Adamson stalwart is expected to play a big role in their clash with the HD Spikers, who are reeling from a shutout loss to the resurgent Chery Tiggo Crossovers the other night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
But expect Cignal, third placer here last year, to strike back with seasoned campaigners Ces Molina, Riri Meneses, Rachel Anne Daquis, Chin Basas, Roselyn Doria and setter Gel Cayuna out to raise the level of their respective games a notch higher and avoid going 0-2 in a single round robin elims among nine teams.
The Flying Titans, on the other hand, proved too much for the Akari Chargers, scoring a 25-15, 25-20, 25-20, despite the presence of Dindin Manabat, who joined the league’s newest team along with Joy Soyud, Camille Victoria and top libero Bang Pineda during the off-season.
Like the Cool Smashers, the Flying Titans brace for a big bounce-back by the Angels with coach Oliver Almadro hoping to draw a better showing from his wards made up of Nicole Tiamzon, Aiza Pontillas, Grethcel Soltones, Remy Palma and the power-hitting Jonah Sabete, who struggled for a solitary point in a two-set stint.
Games are telecast live on One Sports, One Sports+, Cignal Play, and SMART Live Stream and on pvl.ph