PLDT Home, Army seek to arrange V-League title showdwon

MANILA, Philippines -- PLDT Home Ultera and Army seek to arrange a highly anticipated championship showdown as the two try to finish off University of the Philippines and Navy, respectively, Sunday in the semifinals of the Shakey's V-League Season 12-Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Lady Troopers swept the elimination round in five games while the Ultrafast Lady Spikers ended up at second spot with a 4-1 (win-loss) record to seize an important twice-to-beat advantage when they tackle the Lady Maroons at 12:45 p.m. and the Lady Sailors at 3 p.m.

A win will for Army and PLDT will forge an interesting a best-of-three title clash starting on Nov. 28 and a rematch of their Open Conference championship duel that ended up with a heart-stopping, title-clinching Game Three win by the latter last May.

PLDT coach Roger Gorayeb wasn't shy in saying that they have a big edge against the less experienced Lady Maroons thanks to an already loaded lineup further strengthened by the arrival of two former US NCAA Division 1 standouts Victoria Hurtt and Serea Freeman.

"I don't mean to sound boastful, but we have the advantage against them because we're more experienced and we have two imports," said Gorayeb, who is seeking to become the first coach in league history to ever win a Grand Slam.

Gorayeb has a reason to be confident about after the power-hitting tandem of Hurtt and Freeman combined for a whopping 36 points in carrying PLDT to a 25-12, 25-12, 23-25, 25-21 triumph over KIA Forte in the final elimination round playdate a week back.

It also helped that PLDT trounced UP, 25-12, 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, in the first time the two met this conference on Oct. 31, or weeks before Hurtt and Freeman arrived.

And as Hurtt and Freeman get to train more with the locals, expect the Ultrafast Lady Spikers to get more dangerous.

"We've only practiced together for less than a week and we need more time to be a cohesive team," said Gorayeb.

Setters Rubie de Leon and Jem Ferrer are expected to split time after the latter came off the bench to come up with 26 excellent sets that drew praises from her coach.

"She adjusted quickly to the imports and played really well for us," said Gorayeb of the former Ateneo standout.

Army coach Kungfu Reyes, in contrast, said there is no room for complacency.

"We just want to stay aggressive and not end up being too confident," said Reyes, who hasn't lost in five games since he took over the headcoaching job in lieu of Rico de Guzman this conference.