By CHRISTAN SALVAÑA
Games Saturday)
(Ynares Center Antipolo)
4 p.m. – Galeries Tower vs Farm Fresh
6:30 p.m. – Cignal vs Nxled
A day meant for love could turn into heartbreak for one squad as unbeaten teams Cignal and Nxled clash in the main event of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Expect drama to unfold on Valentine’s Day as the Super Spikers aim to stretch their winning run to four against the fellow unbeaten Chameleons (2-0) in their 6:30 p.m. showdown.
Fresh off a hard-earned 25-17, 26-24, 20-25, 30-28 victory over Farm Fresh last Tuesday, Cignal will once again lean on star hitter Vanie Gandler, who erupted for 25 points built on 24 attacks in the four-set thriller.
head coach Shaq Delos Santos, however, is keeping his squad grounded.
“I think the number one thing we need to focus on is how to recover from fatigue,” said delos Santos in Filipino. “We also need to study how they play, how they perform, and try to maximize what we need to improve – our strengths and the areas we can sharpen.”
Nxled, meanwhile, hopes to build on its 25-18, 28-26, 25-18 sweep of Capital1 last Saturday.
In that game, Brooke Van Sickle and Myla Pablo shared the limelight after scoring15 points apiece.
A sweep of the single-round preliminaries carries the incentive of an outright semifinal berth – extra motivation for both unbeaten squads.
In the 4 p.m. curtain-raiser, Galeries Tower (1-1) faces Farm Fresh (0-2), with the Foxies still searching for their first win of the season.
The Highrisers look to sustain their momentum after snapping a 345-day skid with a gritty 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 15-10 triumph over Zus Coffee on Feb. 7.
