Games today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
2:30 p.m. — Creamline vs Army
5:30 p.m. — Petro Gazz vs Chery Tiggo
Semifinals-bound Creamline and Chery Tiggo are out to get back on the winning track against separate foes in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.
Both squads have already secured seats in the round robin Final Four with identical 5-1 win-loss records for a share of the top spot in the standings.
However, both are also coming off defeats that put a stain on their once-pristine cards.
First to shoot for a rebound are the grand slam-seeking Cool Smashers in the 2:30 p.m. encounter against winless Army.
Creamline is raring to claw back after suffering a stinging defeat at the hands of F2 Logistics where it watched in horror its two-set advantage melt away before surrendering, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 11-15, last Tuesday.
“Definitely, we learned a lot from that loss. For sure we’ll work harder in our next game,” Cool Smashers team captain Alyssa Valdez said.
Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses hopes that his squad could address the lapses of its previous outing where the Cargo Movers landed 14 aces and scored 14 kill blocks.
“Every game is important for us. It does not matter if we’re already in the semis. Every game we have to be ready,” he said.
Backing Valdez up are Turkish import Yeliz Basa, Celine Domingo, Jema Galanza and setter Jia Morado-De Guzman against the Lay Troopers who are still in search of the elusive win.
Army has yet to taste victory after failing in its first six tries.
Meanwhile, Chery Tiggo crosses paths with Petro Gazz oin their 5:30 p.m. date.
The Crossovers lost to Creamline in four sets last week that saw their winning streak snapped.
Montenegrin import Jelena Cvijovic, Mylene Paat, Czarina Carandang and EJ Laure march back into action to push Chery Tiggo back in the right direction.
While Chery Tiggo has nothing to lose in the match as it already booked a semis ticket, the Angels badly need a win to enhance their chances of securing one of the last two Final Four berths.
Petro Gazz bowed down to Cignal, 22-25, 32-34, 25-15, 25-16, 13-15, last Thursday which pulled the Angels to a three-way logjam at No. 3 with the HD Spikers and F2 Logistics at 3-2.
