PLDT, Army seek share of volley lead
Games today 9 a.m. – Cignal vs PLDT Home Ultera 5 p.m. – Army vs Champion Infinity
PLDT Home Ultera and Army brace for a pair of tough duels in pursuit of a share of the Spikers’ Turf lead, facing Cignal and Champion Infinity, respectively, today at The Arena in San Juan.
The PLDT Ultra Fast Spikers swamped the Cavite Patriots Fourbees, 25-19, 25-17, 25-10, last Tuesday but expect a tougher challenge against the Cignal HD Spikers in their 9 a.m. duel. Cignal dropped a 1-3 decision (22-25, 22-25, 25-15, 22-25) to Air Force but is raring for a big rebound behind Edmar Bonono, Lorenzo Capate Jr., Reyson Fuentes and Red Christensen.
Still, PLDT remains the slight favorite owing to its talent-laden cast headed by Kheeno Franco, Paul Torres, Jayson Ramos and Mark Alfafara, who are all primed up to steer the team to its second straight win for a share of the lead with fancied Cagayan Valley, which swept its first two games in varying fashions.
That’s the same target Army is aiming in its 5 p.m. showdown with Champion Infinity, which barely lost a tight five-setter after winning the first two sets (25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 22-25, 14-16), to Cagayan in last Sunday’s opener of the inaugural league presented by PLDT Home Ultera.
But like the Ultra Fast Spikers, the Troopers are fancied to chalk up their second straight win with Ian Depamaylo, Benjaylo Lapide, Patrick Rojas, Greg Dolor and Antonio Torres expected to carry the cudgels again for the team.