by Kristel Satumbaga
Games Today (The Arena, San Juan City)
3 p.m. – Creamline vs Pacifictown Army
5 p.m. – PetroGazz vs BanKo Perlas
Semifinal action heats up today in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City with Creamline seeking a second straight finals appearance.
The second-seeded Cool Smashers clash with No. 3 Pacifictown Army Lady Troopers in the 3 p.m. opener while the top-ranked PetroGazz collides with fourth pick BanKo-Perlas at 5 p.m. in Game 1 of their respective best-of-three series.
Creamline actually finished tied with PetroGazz with identical 9-1 cards at the end of the double-round eliminations, but settled for second after the tiebreak.
The Cool Smashers hope to ride on the momentum of their nine-game winning streak with Alyssa Valdez spearheading the squad.
Sustaining that energy will be the key to Creamline’s bid especially against Pacifictown Army, which is hoping for a successful comeback from a hiatus.
The Cool Smashers also have setter Jia Morado, Thai opposite spiker Kuttika Kaewpin and middle blocker Ale Blanco.
Pacifictown Army, which finished third in the elims at 5-5, wants a different outcome from its previous meetings with Creamline where it lost 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 in their first meeting and 16-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16, in the second round.
Currently the best digging team, the Lady Troopers will try to stop the Cool Smashers’ attacks headed bt libero Angela Nunag, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Olena Lymareva-Flink and Jenelle Jordan.
