POCARI Sweat and Creamline brace for a fierce duel as they clash for the solo lead today (Saturday) in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
The Lady Warriors and the Cool Smashers will not only be putting their three-game runs on the line in their 4 p.m. encounter but also their pride—the match also featuring a personal duel between the league’s top two draws.
Alyssa Valdez, a four-time league MVP who currently leads in scoring, slugs it out with Myla Pablo, a two-time Finals MVP who is currently the spiking leader, with their almost evenly-matched bench raring to back their respective team’s aces.
“It is going to be a tough match because we’re playing Valdez and a team that is also stacked with veteran players,” said Pocari coach Rico de Guzman, referring to Valdez’ battle-tested backup crew, led by former Ateneo star playmaker Jia Morado, Rosemary Vargas, Lisa Mandapat, Pau Soriano and Ivy Remulla.
Valdez is also expected to go all-out and help deliver another win in her last game for Creamline as she is set to join the national team in its training in Japan for next month’s SEA Games.
Pablo, on the other hand, will be relying on Jeanette Panaga, Elaine Kasilag, Gyselle Sy, Siemens Dadang and Melissa Gohing, all members of the team that won the Reinforced Conference last month.
Pablo is actually running behind Valdez in scoring, pooling 71 points in three games, seven behind the former Ateneo ace but is tops in spiking with 41.98 percent success from 68 spikes out of 162 attempts with 10 faults.
Pocari, seeking a fourth straight championship in the league organized by Sports Vision, is also the top spiking team in the early going of the league backed by Mikasa and Asics with 33.52 percent success, with Creamline just behind with 32.67 percent.
Perlas-BanKo, on the other hand, shoots for its second straight win as it takes on the struggling Power Smashers at 6:30 p.m.
After dropping their first two matches, the BanKo Spikers trounced the Adamson-Akari Lady Falcons to wheel back into contention for one of the semifinal berths.
Kat Bersola, who missed Perlas-BanKo’s first two games, fired 13 hits in her first outing as she backed Nicole Tiamzon’s 14-point output to help power the team past Adamson, 25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21.
The four teams after the single round elims will advance to the Final Four with the Nos. 1 and 4 teams and the Nos. 2 and 3 squads clashing in a pair of best-of-three series. Winners will dispute the championship.
Meanwhile, Mega Builders guns for the solo lead in men’s play as it faces Instituto Estetico Manila (1-1) at 1 p.m. after the 10 a.m. encounter between Air Force (2-1) and Café Lupe (0-2).
Games today
10 a.m.- Café Lupe vs Air Force (men’s)
1 p.m.- IEM vs Mega Buiders (men’s)
4 p.m.- Pocari Sweat vs Creamline (women’s)
6:30 p.m.- Power Smashers vs Perlas-BanKo (women’s)