Philips, Cignal dispute solo lead in Superliga

Games Today:

(The Arena, San Juan)

4 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Cignal

6 p.m. – RC Cola-Air Force vs Foton

MANILA, Philippines – Now that the semifinal cast is already complete, heavy contenders Philips Gold and Cignal will clash for solo leadership as the double-round eliminations of the 2015 Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament enters its crucial stretch Thursday at The Arena in San Juan.

Action starts at 4 pm before the encounter between Foton and also-ran RC Cola-Air Force in the 6 p.m. main offering of this prestigious inter-club tourney presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Mueller, Mikasa and Senoh as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.

After pulling off an emphatic straight-set conquest of RC Cola-Air Force last Tuesday, Philips Gold joined reigning champion Petron and Cignal in a three-way logjam on top of the team standing with a 6-2 win-loss mark while shoving the Raiders out of title contention together with winless Meralco.

With that, the semifinal cast has been formally completed with Petron, Cignal, Philips Gold and Foton using their remaining games to determine their placing in the knockout, kill-or-be killed semifinal showdown scheduled next week.

But Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente has a pressing concern.

"As much as possible, we're trying to avoid Petron in the semis," said Vicente shortly after completing their 28-26, 25-19, 25-15 win over RC Cola-Air Force.

"The semis is just a one-game affair. That's where experience and cohesiveness will come into play. Petron is the reigning champion and has an international experience. We really have to win our remaining games to avoid them in the next round."

Vicente stressed that although they are more comfortable playing Cignal in the semis, they will still not take the HD Spikers for granted, especially since they have a pair of powerful imports in Ariel Usher and Amanda Anderson as well as the league's finest defenders in Cherry Vivas, Fritz Gallenero and libero Jheck Dionela.

In fact, Cignal's discipline and elite reception were in full display that allowed Usher and Anderson to pepper the defense with booming kills in the deciding set of their heart-stopping 15-25, 25-15, 25-17, 19-25, 16-14 victory over Philips Gold in the first round.

It was the Lady Slammers' first game of the conference and Vicente said they already learned their lesson as they went on to win their next four matches.

"It served as a motivation to the team," he said. "Unlike Petron which has a lot of offensive weapons, Cignal makes a living out of its defense. We have to stop that. We have to come up with a game plan that will take their defenders away from their comfort zone while stopping the attacks of Usher and Anderson."

Tipped to lead the Lady Slammers' assault are imports Bojana Todorovic and Alexis Olgard as well as the vastly-improved Myla Pablo, who started out slow before finish the night with a 10-hit performance against the Raiders.

Michelle Gumabao, Desiree Dadang and Melissa Gohing are also expected to step up to provide defensive intensity against Usher and Anderson.