Petron guns for a sweep of the first round when it clashes with a red-hot Foton side in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Battle starts at 7 p.m. with the Blaze Spikers hunting for their seventh straight win against the tough Tornadoes, who won five of their six matches in this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu, Sogo, Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, UCPB Gen and Bizooku with Genius Sports as technical provider.
Prior to that F2 Logistics will secure the third spot as it faces Smart at 4:15 p.m. while Generika-Ayala tries to forge a tie with idle Cignal when it tackles Cocolife in the 2 p.m. opening match of this battle that also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners.
A victory by the Blaze Spikers over the Tornadoes will give them the top spot and a chance to be in Pool A together with the third, sixth and eighth-seeded teams for another round of action in the second half of the preliminaries.
On the other hand, either Foton or F2 Logistics will take the second spot and join the fourth, fifth and seventh-ranked squads in the next round, making this explosive triple-header very crucial and exciting for local volleyball aficionados.
Reigning champion Petron is definitely the team-to-beat.
In fact, it won all but one set in its first six matches, sparking speculations that it is on track to sweep the tournament similar to what it did in 2015 when the core of Rachel Anne Daquis, Dindin Manabat and Aby Marano won 13 straight matches en route to the title.
Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos, however, said it’s still a long way to go.
“We’re really happy with what we have right now, but I always tell my players not to be complacent or contented,” said Delos Santos following their impressive 25-9, 25-12, 25-6 win over struggling Sta. Lucia late Tuesday.
“I let them enjoy the win today. But I have to remind them that tomorrow will be a different story. We need to go back to practice and work hard because our mission is not yet done.”
The Blaze Spikers are tipped to have their hands full against the Tornadoes.
Despite losing twin towers Jaja Santiago and Dindin Manabat to the prestigious V. Premier League of Japan in the off-season, Foton remains a strong force to be reckoned with, thanks to the emergence of veteran Mina Aganon and rising star Carla Sandoval.
In their previous win over Cocolife, 25-23, 26-28, 25-21, 25-19, Aganon and Sandoval registered 18 points apiece while setter Gyzelle Sy did a masterful job calling the plays with 24 excellent sets.
But against Petron, it’s going to be a different story.
“Petron is really a strong team but we will try our best,” said Foton coach Aaron Velez, worried about the strong performance of Mika Reyes, Frances Molina, Rhea Dimaculangan and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas lately.
“Just like in our previous games, we will prepare hard and give them a good fight.”