Lady Troopers shoot for sweep, Open crown

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Army tries to cap an imposing campaign in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference as it goes for a sweep of San Sebastian College in their best-of-three title series at The Arena in San Juan today.

The Lady Troopers unloaded a new weapon in their already fearsome arsenal to turn what was expected to be a down-to-the-wire title series opener into a virtual romp, scoring a straight-set 25-9, 25-20, 25-16 victory last Sunday.

By neutralizing the Lady Stags’ vaunted attacking game with solid blocking, the Troopers essayed the emphatic win, putting them in the threshold of winning the first-ever Open championship in the eight-year league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Army coach Rico de Guzman said his wards have worked hard to take the opener and expects his Troopers to further raise the level of their game in anticipation of a big SSC comeback in their 4 p.m. encounter.

Meanwhile, Ateneo, winner of the first conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad Water, also guns for a sweep of its own series for third place with Navy at 2 p.m.

The Lady Eagles hacked out a thrilling 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 14-25, 15-8, victory in Game One but are expected to have their hands full against the Lady Sailors in today’s match.

The Carolino sisters – Michelle and Marietta – have combined well with Rachel Ann Daquis, Joanne Buñag, Cristina Salak, Mary Jean Balse, Dahlia Cruz both in offense and defense and the bench has provided solid back-up that has made Army a tough team to beat.

But the three-day break should’ve given the Lady Stags enough time to make the necessary adjustment and plug the holes that enabled the Troopers to run away with the one-sided win. But ranged against a team with a talent-laden crew, the 2008 second conference champions will need to double their effort to counter Army’s firepower.

Focus will be on Lauren Ford, the conference’s best scorer and MVP who ironically struggled for just five hits in a game she was expected to shine after a dominant performance in the elims, the quarters and the semis.

Rubie de Leon must also come up with ways to baffle Army defense with her set plays for Ford or Thai import Jang Baulee while the rest must step up and provide the much-needed push to send the series into a winner-take-all affair.

Otherwise, Army may be trooping to the podium to collect the championship.

Matches can be viewed live on www,v-league.ph. The Ateneo-Navy game will be telecast at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) while the Army-SSC clash will be shown on Saturday on NBN-4 and GMA-7’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA LifeTV and GMA News TV.