THE cast for the quarterfinals is complete, but intense action is still expected when Cignal collides with Generika-Ayala in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference today at the Baliwag Star Arena in Baliuag, Bulacan.
Fresh from their conquest of Petron last week, the HD Spikers clash with the Lifesavers at 7 p.m., hoping to close their campaign in the preliminaries on a high note in the tournament bankrolled by Rebisco, Belo and Gold’s Gym with TV5 as official broadcast partner.
Cocolife, meanwhile, tests Cherrylume at 5 p.m.
Despite surrendering to the Blaze Spikers in five sets in Batangas City over the weekend, league-leading Foton still clinched the top seed in the crossover quarterfinals because of its superior quotient over Cignal.
The Tornadoes will battle winless Cherrylume in the do-or-die quarterfinals because of the Iron Lady Warriors’ inferior quotient to the Asset Managers.
Other quarterfinal pairings pits Cignal against Cocolife, Petron against Sta. Lucia and Generika-Ayala against F2 Logistics.
The quarterfinals action kick off this Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
All eyes will be on Cignal, a team bannered by the powerful triumvirate of Rachel Anne Daquis, Honey Royse Tubino and national team stalwart Jovelyn Gonzaga.
After bowing to the Tornadoes, the HD Spikers came up with a major rebound as they dominated bitter rival Blaze Spikers before a big weekday crowd last Thursday.
Daquis, Gonzaga and Tubino were the stars of the show, as they took turns in destroying the defense put up by middle blockers Mika Reyes, Remy Palma and Ria Meneses at the net.
But Cignal Coach George Pascua said the battle is still far from over.
“We can’t afford to be complacent,” said Pascua, the architect of Petron’s sweep of the conference two years ago. “Things are going tough from here. We have to work hard because everybody is also preparing as well.”
Cignal will face a squad capable of pulling off a shocking upset.
In their previous match, the Lifesavers bravely exposed the chink in the Tornadoes’ armor in the first two sets, prompting Serbian coach Moro Branislav to dig deeper into his playbook.
Foton survived in five sets, but Generika-Ayala proved that it could also stand its ground against the big guns.
“We’re playing each game as if it is our last,” Generika-Ayala coach Francis Vicente said. “Our morale is high after giving Foton a scare. The players realized that they are also capable of winning over the heavyweights of the league.”
Vicente stressed that open spikers Fiola Ceballos and Patty Jane Orendain will again provide the firepower while skipper Gen Casugod, Mikaela Lopez and Angeli Araneta as well as liberos Bia General and Kath Arado take care of the defense.