Foton, Cignal seek PSL semis berths
Games Today (The Arena, San Juan City) 4:15 p.m. – Foton vs Sta. Lucia 7 p.m. – Cignal vs Cocolife
Defending champion Foton and Cignal look to complete the semifinal cast when they meet separate foes today in the 2017 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix quarterfinals at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Tornadoes collide with the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors at 4:15 p.m. before the HD Spikers take on the Cocolife Asset Managers at 7 p.m. as they seek to join the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers and Petron Blaze Spikers in the final four of the league’s most-prestigious tournament.
F2 made short work of the Iriga City Lady Oragons, 25-19, 25-12, 25-17, while Petron survived the GenerikaAyala Lifesavers, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11, Tuesday in the start of the knockout quarters.
Both winners finished the single- round eliminations with similar 7-1 slates, with F2 taking the No. 1 seed and Petron placing second. Foton also went 7-1 but was seeded third while Cignal posted an even 4-4 slate for fourth.
Foton and Cignal hope to avoid the upset axe as they expect fierce competition from their rivals.
Foton’s Serbian coach Moro Branislav pins his hopes on the deadly trio of Sara Klisura, Dragana Perunicic and Jaja Santiago as they remain threats behind the net, but the Lady Realtors are unfazed as they parade their own key players in imports Marisa Field, Bohdana Anisova and Mar-Jana Phillips.
Branislav is also confident that they can duplicate their 25-16, 25-11, 25-16 elims victory over Sta. Lucia last Nov. 18.
As for Cignal, coach George Pascua is optimistic that his other stalwarts will step up as they continue to miss the services of their two best spikers Jovelyn Gonzaga and Rachel Daquis due to injuries.
Pascua also believes they are the underdogs in this matchup despite a higher ranking after losing to Cocolife in their elims encounter, 19-25, 24-26, 27-25, 25-16, 15-9, last Nov. 4.
Australian Beth Carey and American Alexis Mathews steer Cignal along with Japanese libero Mami Miyashita to contain the attacking prowess of Cocolife’s Tai Manu-Olevao and Taylor Milton.