Cignal, PLDT aim to boost PVL semis bids

Joey Villar

Games Thursday

(FilOil Arena)

4 p.m. – Cignal vs Zus Coffee

6:30 p.m. – PLDT vs Farm Fresh

MANILA, Philippines — Sibling rivals Cignal and PLDT will try to close in on a Top-Four finish in the preliminaries that would give them an easier path to the semifinals as they battle separate foes in the PVL All-Filipino Conference at the FilOil Arena in San Juan.

The Supers Spikers (4-2) clash with the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles (1-5) at 4 p.m., while the High Speed Hitters (4-1) battle the Farm Fresh Foxies (2-3) at 6:30 p.m., eyeing nothing less than a win for that place in the qualifying round reserved for the Top Four.

Of course, making it there would push Cignal and PLDT one win closer from claiming the first two semis seats, while leaving the rest, including the qualifying round losers, into a rigorous eight-team play-in phase, where one loss would mean outright elimination.

It would also be a better scenario for both Cignal and PLDT if they both ended up in the semis since it would push the Manny V. Pangilinan franchises to a dream title showdown.

But as far as the High Speed Hitters — the PVL on Tour and Invitational Conference titlists — they’re not rushing it that much.

“We’re taking it a game at a time because of the unpredictability of the conference,” said resurgent PLDT spiker Kianna Dy.

“It’s like you can’t predict who’s going to win or lose so it's very important to focus on just the next game and also treat all of the games as important.”

Cignal is also looking at bouncing back from a stinging 25-23, 20-25, 11-25, 25-23, 15-12 defeat to Akari Saturday that derailed the former’s bid of inching closer to the qualifying round.

But the Super Spikers would have their chance again as they face off the struggling Thunderbelles, who seemed to be lost without their coach Jerry Yee for a period of time.

Interestingly, Yee has returned from his medical sabbatical and should be back in harness in time for this critical matchup with Cignal.