Creamline and Cignal mix it up on Saturday in an early clash of title contenders as the Premier Volleyball League heads to Batangas City for the first of several out-of-town games calendared for the season-ending All-Filipino Conference.
The Cool Smashers, bucking the loss of two key players, trounced the Choco Mucho Flying Titans in four while the HD Spikers, who also played without two of their anchors, tripped the PLDT High Speed Hitters via the same fashion to launch their respective title bids at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.
That makes their 6 p.m. clash at the Batangas City Sports Center worth seeing with an early share of the lead with idle Chery Tiggo at stake in the main dish of a twinbill that also pits Petro Gazz against Gerflor at 4 p.m.
The Angels, who swept the Galeries Tower Highrisers last Tuesday, likewise gun for a lead share against the Defenders, who yielded a three-setter to the surprising Nxled Chameleons also last Sunday.
But all eyes will be on the Cool Smashers-HD Spikers’ face-off with coaches Sherwin Meneses and Shaq delos Santos expected to come up with new ploys to startle the other side’s play-patterns in pursuit of a key win in the single round elims among record 12 teams.
One thing going for the defending champions, however, is that they will have the crowd support with homegrown talent Alyssa Valdez likely to start out after a limited stint against the Flying Titans where she just played in the last two sets and scored four points.
Bernadette Pons, who sizzled with a career-high 22 points the first time out, hopes to sustain her form while the heavy-hitting Michele Gumabao is raring to come up with a follow-up to her big 20-point game.
Kyle Negrito has also stepped up while taking the playmaking chores from Jia de Guzman, who is now with the Japan league, while Pangs Panaga and Risa Saso combined for 14 points against Choco Mucho to more than make up for the absence of erstwhile top middle Ced Domingo, who has also signed up for a foreign team.
Cignal is also missing the services of Jovelyn Gonzaga and Rachel Anne Daquis but Ces Molina, along with Chin Chin Basas, Vanie Gandler, Jackie Acuña, Roselyn Doria, Riri Meneses, Chay Troncoso and setter Gel Cayuna more than made up for their abscence with solid plays against the High Speed Hitters.
Chery Tiggo drove past Farm Fresh and Galeries Tower to grab the solo lead with the Crossovers looking to make it three straight against the Akari Chargers when the league, organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa, BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, SMART, Rebisco, Milcu, Kumu, Asics and SportRadar, holds its second out-of-town game at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Tuesday.
The league is also set to stage games in Ilocos Sur, Santa Rosa, Laguna, Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo in its continuing effort to bring the games closer to the fans, particularly in the provinces.
Matches are aired on Pilipinas Live, PVL.ph, One Sports, One Sports+ and SMART Livestream app.
