UNDEFEATED Petron guns for a preliminary round sweep against back-against-the wall Generika-Ayala today in the Belo-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Blaze Spikers, however, are not focused on a five-match sweep as Head Coach Shaq Delos Santos is still looking for more improvement from his wards as they enter the Final Round.
“Like other teams, we’re also still adjusting,” Delos Santos said on the eve of their match set at 5 p.m. “It’s still a long way to go. We’re not thinking about the sweep or anything. I just want the team to stay focused and play each game as if it’s our last.”
The Life Savers, on the other hand, need to pull off an earthshaking upset over Petron if they want to make it to the Final Round that already includes Petron, Cignal and a guest team from Japan for another round robin where the top finisher will emerge champion. The Finals begin on March 30.
Tied with Generika at the third spot with identical 2-2 win-loss cards, the Foton Tornadoes are also in a must-win situation against Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors in their 7 p.m. match.
If the Lifesavers and Tornadoes remained tied after today’s matches, their ranking will be determined based on their accumulated points and won sets. Foton currently has seven points and Generika six points.
Generika-Ayala coach Francis Vicente knows that beating Petron is a daunting task but he just wants his girls to avoid making many errors.
“We know it takes a lot to win over Petron at this point, but we will work hard and be prepared,” said Vicente, who also coaches the national team to the Asian Volleyball Confederation Senior Women’s Championship and 29th Southeast Asian Games.
“All we need is to improve our defense, reduce our errors and play more as one solid team,” Vicente added.
The loser of the Generika-Ayala-Foton match would be relegated to the classification phase with expansion teams Cocolife and Sta. Lucia.