Lady Eagles go for semis berth; Navy eyes playoff

MANILA, Philippines -  Ateneo hopes to nail the elusive fourth semifinal berth against Cagayan Valley-Perpetual Help today even as Navy seeks to force a playoff against fancied Sandugo-San Sebastian side at the close of the double-round elims of the Shakey’s V-League Open at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Lady Eagles dropped a pair of four-setters to the Sailors and the Army Troopers the past week, stalling their march to the next round of the league’s mid-season conference at 3-6.

Ateneo’s skid also kept the Sailors, who tote a 2-7 mark, in the hunt although the latter will need to beat the Lady Stags in the 2 p.m. opener and hope for an Ateneo loss to force a playoff for the hotly disputed berth in the event sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Ateneo and Cagayan clash at 6 p.m.

Army and Far Eastern U tangle in the other match at 4 p.m. with the defending champion Troopers fancied to repeat over the Lady Tams, who, however, are expected to come out strong coming off their first win over the Sailors last Sunday after eight straight defeats.

Games can be viewed live on www.v-league.ph.

Sandugo-SSC, meanwhile, swept Cagayan Valley, 25-14, 25-19, 25-22, late Sunday to zero in on the No. 1 spot at 8-1 with Army just a game behind at 7-2 and Cagayan Valley at No. 3 with a 6-3 slate.

The No. 1 team will take on the No. 4 squad in the semis with the Nos. 2 and 3 clashing for the other finals berth in a pair of best-of-three matches. The winners will dispute the crown in another best-of-three affair.

Meanwhile, the Army-Ateneo match and the Sandugo-Cagayan game last Sunday will be telecast on AKTV beginning at 7 tonight, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Ateneo hopes to draw the best from top hitter Alyssa Valdez, who was held to just 15 hits last Sunday with Fille Cainglet taking charge to fire 21 points and Dzi Gervacio coming up with a solid 13-hit effort.

But they will have to double their effort to get back at the Rising Suns, who despite their straight-set setback to the Lady Stags, remain a tough team for the Eagles.

Cagayan, led by the league’s top scorer Sandra delos Santos, Joy Cases and Honey Tubino, also boasts of a pair of Thai hitters in Kunbang Pornpimol and Sutadta Chuewulim, who are both expected to atone for their so-so performance against the Lady Stags. Pornpimol struggled for five hits while Chuewulim had a score-less stint.