It will be the other half of the record 12-team cast’s turn to make a mark and prove their mettle with pre-tournament picks Petro Gazz, F2 Logistics and Chery Tiggo facing Galeries, Akari and Farm Fresh, respectively, in the second elims playdate of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today (Tuesday).
While the Angels, runners-up to the Creamline Cool Smashers in the first conference, appear to have the edge over the Galeries Towers side given their loaded roster and experience with two Reinforced titles, the Highrisers, one of the league’s two new teams, are more than ready to rise to the challenge in their 7 p.m. match.
“We have a system that I cannot tell you because we have a style in place and I believe it will work well as we go forward,” said Galeries assistant coach Godfrey Okumu. “Petro Gazz is a strong opponent, the Angels have a lot of experience and seasoned players so it’s not a game we will take for granted.”
“We always talk about points but I talk about skill. If we can execute our skills properly, then it would give us a point and a point will give us a set and a set will give us games to that’s what we’re looking forward to,” he added.
For his part, Petro Gazz assistant mentor Vince Mangulabnan guaranteed the Angels’ all-out effort, not just for this particular game but all throughout their campaign with an eye on getting another crack at the championship in the league’s centerpiece tournament.
“The team will do its best and if we are lucky enough, we want to reach the finals,” said Mangulabnan, whose roster is made up of Grethcel Soltones, Aiza Pontillas, Nicole Tiamzon, Jonah Sabete and Djanel Cheng.
The Crossovers and the Cargo Movers are also fancied to get past the Foxies and the Chargers at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, although they remain wary of their rivals who are both going all-out to pull off an early surprise in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa, BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, SMART, Rebisco, Milcu, Kumu, Asics and SportRadar.
Winners will join Creamline, Cignal and Nxled in the early lead.
The Cool Smashers trounced the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, 25-18, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21; the HD Spikers repulsed the PLDT High Speed Hitters, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20; and the Chameleons debuted with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 rout of the Gerflor Defenders.
Chery Tiggo, meanwhile, boasts of prized recruits, including Imee Hernandez, Jennifer Nierva, Joyme Cagande and Eya Laure with mainstays EJ Laure, Mylene Paat, Shaya Adorador, Ponggay Gaston and Cza Carandang to provide the leadership and poise.
“Puro prized recruits ang mga yan. Hopefully, naka-adjust na sila. Nakita naman sa mga tune-up games namin. Ang kailangan lang ay maging healthy sila from start to finish para mas maganda yung bakbakan namin,” said Chery Tiggo deputy coach Kungfu Reyes.
Farm Fresh coach Jerry Yee, on the other hand, hopes his wards will be able to dish out the games expected of them, pinning his hopes on his young guns, led by the big-hitting pair of Trisha Tubu and Alyssa Bertolano, along with Justine Dorog, Rizza Cruz, Camill Avila, Jade Gentapa and Kate Santiago and setters Cloanne Mondoñedo and Louie Romero.
The F2 Logistics-Akari duel is also expected to be fierce with the Cargo Movers all geared up to improve on their third place effort the first time out with a solid, star-studded crew.
“All are pressured to win but all we can do is to do our best every game,” said F2 coach Regine Diego, whose crack roster includes Myla Pablo, Ivy Lacsina, Aby Maraño, Ara Galang, Jovelyn Fernandez, Major Baron, Jolina dela Cruz, Kim Fajardo and Marionne Alba. “But we have to go through a lot of games to achieve our dream championship. We’re going to do our best, so let’s see.”
Like the rest of the lesser lights, however, the Chargers are ready to fight to the finish with Akari coach Jorge Souza de Brito saying: “We do want to win but we have to learn how to do that and hopefully, my team, we as a team, can grow and get all the improvements we have in the training.”
“I’m very excited. You know why? Because the competition is different than before. We can play against all the teams and I hope in the future we can play twice. This is the best time that we can really see all the players and coaches working a lot and it would be good for the fans so my goal for this is maybe we can,” de Brito said. “We’re putting the seeds to make the best of us and bring the best (out) of the players always. So our goal is to of course be on the top but we respect all the guys here but we need to fight.”
The games are aired on Pilipinas Live, PVL.ph, One Sports, One Sports+, and SMART Livestream app.
Games Tuesday
3 p.m. –Chery Tiggo vs Farm Fresh
5 p.m. – F2 Logistics vs Akari
7 p.m. – Petro Gazz vs Galeries