Lady Chiefs seek crucial win vs Engineers

Arellano tries to rebound from a shutout loss to Adamson as it faces winless Technological Institute of the Philippines, hoping to fuel its semifinal drive with a victory in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference today at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Chiefs swept the St. Benilde Lady Blazers and the San Beda Red Spikers but got swept by the unbeaten Adamson Lady Falcons to drop to joint second with the Red Spikers heading to the homestretch of the single-round robin elims in the two-division tournament organized by Sports Vision.

The Bustillos-based squad, however, remains confident of its chances against TIP in their 4 p.m. clash with Jovielyn Prado, Mary Anne Esguerra and Regine Arocha tipped to lead the Lady Chiefs’ charge again.

But on the brink with a 0-3 card, the Lady Engineers are going all-out to score a reversal although Jean Jinon and Eunice Mabayao would need to draw solid backup from the bench to neutralize the Lady Chiefs’ edge in talent and experience.

University of the Philippines, on the other hand, seeks to stay in the semis hunt as it faces another winless squad in St. Benilde (0-2) at 4 p.m.

With a 1-1 mark, the Lady Maroons are in the thick of the race with Diana Carlos, Isa Molde, Marian Buitre raring to go against the likes of Ranya Musa, Marites Pablo and Klarissa Abriam of the former NCAA champion Lady Blazers.

Matches can be viewed live via streaming on www.sports.abs-cbn.com/livestream/pvl.

Adamson and National U moved closer to the Final Four with 3-0 cards in their respective divisions. The Lady Falcons swept the Lady Engineers, 25-12, 25-14, 2513, in Group B and the Lady Bulldogs rallied past the Lady Tams, 22-25, 28-26, 29-27, 25-22, in Group A last Saturday.

Meanwhile, four teams try to keep slim semis hopes alive in men’s division with UST (2-2) clashing with National U (1-2) at 8 a.m. and UP (13) battling St. Benilde (0-3) at 10 a.m.