Holders of twice-to-beat incentives, Choco Mucho and Petro Gazz will have an extra day to further toughen up and make sure their respective strategies would work against PLDT and F2 Logistics, respectively, when their side of the Final Four in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference is played Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V. Arena in San Juan.
Surprise Group A top-notcher Cignal HD and fancied Group B No. 1 Creamline get the first crack at the first two semifinal berths as they take on BaliPure and Chery Tiggo, respectively, tomorrow (Monday) in what promises to be a wild chase following a gripping battle of power, poise and ploys for seedings in the past eight days.
“Playing with great teams in the elims only pushed us forward,” said Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro, whose Flying Titans foiled the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers in four sets to clinch the other quarters bonus in Group A play, which included Cignal, Chery Tiggo, and Army.
The HD Spikers went on to complete a stirring sweep of the elims, upending their more favored rivals while the Flying Titans put their act together in time to defang the Cargo Movers as Deanna Wong and Des Cheng stepped up in the clutch to anchor their big victory.
Despite their edge over the PLDT High Speed Hitters, Almadro remains wary of their rivals in their 3 p.m. match, putting premium on cohesion.
“PLDT is a big team and they have been playing well. So we have to focus on details which we need to improve, like our teamwork,” said Almadro, who boasts of elims top scorer Kat Tolentino, Aduke Ogunsanya, Cheng, Ponggay Gaston, and the league’s leading setter Wong.
But while Choco Mucho has the edge over PLDT with its incentive and manpower, a dogfight looms in the Petro Gazz-F2 Logistics duel at 6 p.m.
Sure, the Angels need only to win once to progress but the Cargo Movers have so much pride and experience, not to mention talent, to just roll over and die.