Ateneo, Navy seek to spoil Army-SSC duel

MANILA, Philippines - Ranged against the league’s most fancied teams, Ateneo and Navy go all out to spoil the projected Army-San Sebastian title showdown when the semifinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference starts tomorrow at The Arena in San Juan.

Motivated by their desire to stay on track of their bid for a sweep of the season’s titles, the Lady Eagles hurdled the Air Force side in five in their sudden death for the last semifinal berth last Thursday to arrange a Final Four showdown with the top seeded Lady Troopers.

But Ateneo will be facing an Army crew that swept their two meetings this conference, both in four sets, but the first conference champions are banking on their big fighting heart and the momentum of their inspiring win over Air Force as they head to Game One of their best-of-three series.

Gametime is at 2 p.m.

SSC and Navy, on the other hand, split their two matches in the elims and quarters of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza, making the 4 p.m. faceoff a fairly even contest although the Lady Stags look formidable with a team headed by the league’s leading scorer and spiker Lauren Ford.

The tall American reinforcement has fueled the Stags’ title campaign with a 17.1-hit performance, highlighting her 12-game stint with 48.82 percent success in spikes, and has been drawing tremendous backup from Thai Jang Baulee, Joy Benito, Rubie de Leon, Jill Gustilo and Janet Doria.

Ford also proved her worth as a defender, surging past Maynilad’s Syvie Artates (0.64) and Perpetual Help’s Honey Tubino (0.64) in the blocking department with a 0.78 norm per set.

SSC is also the top receiving team in the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad with a 22.89 percent efficiency although Navy is just behind with 21.16 percent, Army in third with 20.37 percent and Ateneo toting 18.06 percent.

But the Lady Sailors will lean on the power of former MVPs Nene Bautista and Suzanne Roces with support to come from Michelle Laborte, Cecile Cruzada, Rose Prochina, Janet Serafica and Johanna Carpio.

The Carolino sisters – Michelle and Marietta – will again be Army’s main weapons although the Lady Eagles must also try to neutralize or limit the productions of Mary Jean Balse, another former MVP, Joane Buñag and Rachel Ann Daquis.

With a slew of hitters, the Lady Troopers’ attacks are expected to come from all angles although the Eagles, as the league’s leading team in digs, will be ready to defend their turf behind Alyssa Valdez, Fille Cainglet, Dzi Gervacio, Gretchen Ho, Aerieal Patnongon and Dennise Lazaro.