Cignal and Cotabato clash in a duel of unbeaten teams today (Sunday) with the former seeking to formalize its semifinal stint and the latter trying to enhance its own Final Four drive in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila.
While the powerhouse HD Spikers remain the favorites to hurdle the Cotabato Spikers and notch their eighth straight victory, the latter is also upbeat about their chances while focusing on getting stronger and better on both ends of the floor.
“Actually, hindi ako nagpe-prepare against specific teams. Nag-fo-focus lang ako sa team, how they adapt, how they run the plays, how they organize the defense, doon lang muna kami nag-fo-focus,” said Cotabato coach Odjie Mamon.
But he expects to draw solid games from Jau Umandal, Jayvee Sumagaysay, and newly-acquired Vince Mangulaban as they go up against a fancied Cignal side spearheaded by Marck Espejo, Ysay Marasigan, and JP Bugaoan.
Army, meanwhile, tries to stay in the semis hunt as it faces winless defending champion National U at 12:30 p.m. while lowly Vanguard and Air Force face off in the 5:30 p.m. main game of another triple-bill.
With a 3-5 card, the Troopers are at seventh and will need to sweep their last two matches while hoping either Cotabato or Imus won’t go over five wins.
Games are telecast live on One Sports, One Sports+, Cignal Play, SMART Live Stream, and spikersturf.ph.
