Building on its shock reversal over Criss Cross, Kindai University seeks to move to 3-0 in the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference semifinals as it battles UST-Gameville on Monday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
One advantage for the Japanese squad is that UST will be missing several key players – Josh Ybañez, Al-Bukharie Sali, JJ Macam and head coach Odjie Mamon, all of whom are tied up with Alas Pilipinas duties.
The match kicks off an explosive triple-header beginning at 1 p.m. in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Alpha Insurance, Premiere EMS, Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, Black Mamba and Arena Plus.
Recent Spikers’ Turf Press Corps Player of the Week Haruka Misugi is expected to sustain his stellar form for Kindai U, which also defeated ProVolley Academy of Australia last Friday in its historic Spikers’ Turf debut at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
At 3 p.m., Savouge Aesthetics and Cignal collide in what is expected to be a slam-bang showdown with the Spin Doctors (2-0) looking to keep their hot start going and bolster their bid in the single round-robin semifinals.
“Lagi ko lang nireremind sa mga bata ‘Finals’ – ‘yun lang ang pinanghahawakan namin. Sa elimination round hindi maganda ang performance namin, pero ito na ang totoong laban. Ito na ang magdidikta kung paano kami magtatapos,” said Savouge head coach Sydney Calderon.
Savouge is coming off a dominant win over ProVolley that allowed Calderon to rotate all her players, keeping them fresh and focused for the Super Spikers.
Cignal, meanwhile, will again lean on Jau Umandal, who fired a personal conference-high 26 points in a straight-sets victory over UST. Like UST, however, the HD Spikers will also be without several key players.
“Nanalo kami sa Savouge nung elimination round pero nandito pa ‘yung mga Alas namin. Ngayon wala na, so ibang istorya na ‘to – but may tiwala ako sa mga naiwan,” said coach Dexter Clamor, as the Super Spikers continue to miss Louie Ramirez, Joshua Retamar, Vince Lorenzo and Lloyd Josafat.
At 5 p.m., Criss Cross aims a bounce-back win against the young and energetic ProVolley Academy.
Jude Garcia, Noel Kampton, Poy Colinares and Jaron Requinton will anchor the King Crunchers, while Jude Aspero, Isaac Relova and Samuel Hansen lead the Australians.
Games are aired live on One Sports and One Sports+, as well as through the Pilipinas Live app, which offers video-on-demand options. Games will also be streamed via spikersturf.ph.
