Unbeaten Army faces acid test vs Cagayan

Games tomorrow

2 p.m. – PLDT vs Air Force

4 p.m. – Cagayan vs Army

MANILA, Philippines - Army braces for what could its toughest test in its bid for a sweep of the Shakey’s V-League Season II Open Conference elims, facing the very same team that authored a record title sweep last year in today’s crucial match at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Troopers swept their first five games in smashing fashions, including a 3-0 rout of the fancied PLDT Home Telpad side last July 17. But the Season 8 champions are expected to encounter stiff resistance from the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns, who will be going all-out to foil their rivals’ bid to duplicate their feat.

Gametime is at 4 p.m.

Though Army is still miles away from even closing in on Cagayan’s amazing 16-0 romp last year, the Lady Troopers have proved they got what it takes to achieve such feat with a star-studded roster boosted by a slew of talented backups.

Rachel Ann Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga, who hardly saw action in Army’s 3-0 win over Philippine National Police last Tuesday, are again expected to lead the Lady Troopers’ bid for No. 6 along with Mary Jane Balse, Nene Bautista, Ginie Sabas and ace setter Tina Salak.

But the Rising Suns hope to ride the momentum of their 3-0 victories over National U and Air Force with coach Nes Pamilar confident of drawing the best from Aiza Maizo, Janine Marciano, Rose Vargas, Wenneth Eulalio and Pau Soriano and Angeli Tabaquero.

The 2 p.m. match between PLDT Home Telpad and Air Force also promises to be a slambang encounter with the Turbo Boosters seeking to firm up their hold of the No. 2 spot and the Raiders seeking to improve their 3-2 card heading to the carryover quarterfinal round of the mid-season conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

The two matches can be viewed live on www.v-league.ph and will be shown on GMA News TV Channel on a delayed telecast tomorrow starting at 1 p.m.

The quarters cast is virtually complete with four playdates left in the single round elims although Ateneo (2-2) and National U (2-3) still have to win one more to formalize their entry.

UP, the only team with a mathematical chance to force a playoff for the last quarters berth, must sweep its last two games against Cagayan and PNP and hope that Ateneo and NU drop their remaining games to remain the hunt.