Cignal, Capital1 dispute semis berth

MANILA, Philippines — Cignal and Capital1 Solar take the first crack at a semifinals berth when they collide today in the quarterfinals of the PVL Reinforced Conference at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

One win is what the HD Spikers, the second seed after finishing the two-round elimination with a 6-1 record, and the overachieving Solar Spikers, who gatecrashed at No. 7 with a 5-3 mark, would need to advance to the semis.

The knockout game is set at 4 p.m.

While Cignal appears to be the prohibitive favorite, team captain Ces Molina thinks anything can happen in any knockout duel.

“Never be complacent dahil lahat ng teams you’ll never know sino mananalo,” said Molina, referring to Capital1, a very young franchise owned by the Romero sisters Milka and Mandy.

Capital1 made heads turn making it this far after ending up with just one win in 11 outings in the All-Filipino Conference early this year.

And it was mostly because of this destructive weapon from Russia named Marina Tushova, who is head above the rest in the league with an impressive scoring average of 31.375 points a game including one outing when she unleashed a league-record 49-point effort.

Also eyeing a semis seat are Akari, the top seed after sweeping the elims in eight matches, and Farm Fresh, the No. 8 seed with a 3-5 card, at 6 p.m.