The battle for the last two semifinal berths could clear up or get mixed up in a pair of must-win matches for PLDT and Choco Mucho as the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference elims heads to a wild finish back at the SM Mall of Asia Arena today (Thursday).
One thing that could go for the High Speed Hitters and the Flying Titans in their encounters with the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and the Cool Smashers, respectively, is that they will be facing teams that have secured the first two slots in post-elims play as early as last week.
But the downside is that Creamline and Chery Tiggo are in mood to play Samaritans since both are looking to bring that winning mindset into the next round, not to mention momentum and confidence needed in such kind of a cutthroat round-robin phase.
Still, riding the crest of back-to-back wins, the High Speed Hitters close out their elims campaign seeking to nail the all-important win against the skidding Crossovers at 2:30 p.m.
At 3-4 (win-loss), a third straight victory by PLDT still won’t guarantee a semis slot for the High Speed Hitters, whose chances still hinge on the premise that only one from Petro Gazz (4-2), Cignal (3-3), Choco Mucho (3-3) and F2 Logistics (3-3) would go over four wins.
More so, PLDT must beat Chery Tiggo in three to gain more points in case of ties for No. 4.
But the Crossovers are also raring to redeem themselves from back-to-back losses to the Cool Smashers and the Angels since another setback won’t do good for their morale, which reached sky-high after sweeping their first five matches in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision.
Focus will also be on the 5:30 p.m. match between Choco Mucho and Creamline with the Flying Titans hoping to nail the first of two wins they would need to get into the semis outright.
But hurdling the Cool Smashers would require so much hard work, cohesion and defense as the Open Conference and Invitational champions, despite being back on top after getting humbled by the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers last week, are also stepping up their drive to a record grand slam.
Choco Mucho ends its elims campaign against Cignal on Tuesday.
Saturday’s matches also feature the crucial Cignal-F2 Logistics clash with the final elims playdate on Tuesday, originally set last Oct. 29 but was cancelled due to Typhoon Paeng, pitting Cignal versus Choco Mucho and F2 Logistics and Petro Gazz.
Games are aired on One Sports, One Sports+, Cignal Play and Smart Gigaplay.
