Meralco, FEU seek 1st win in Shakey’s V-L

Games today

4 p.m. – FEU vs RTU (men’s)

6 p.m. – Meralco vs PLDT (women’s)

MANILA, Philippines - Meralco and Far Eastern U try to rebound from their opening game setbacks as they take on debuting PLDT Home Telpad and Rizal Technological University, respectively, in the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Foreign Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan.

The Power Spikers, reeling from a 19-25, 18-25, 18-25 loss to the hot-starting Army Lady Troopers last Sunday, hope to bounce back with a victory in their 4 p.m. encounter with the Turbo Boosters to be led by former MVP Suzanne Roces, Angela Benting, Charo Soriano and ace setter Rubie de Leon.

Every match counts in the short month-long tournament among four teams in both women’s and men’s divisions with Army, winner of the recent Open Conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s, kicking off its bid for back-to-back title romp with a sweep of its first two games against Meralco and Cagayan.

Instituo Estetico Manila, meanwhile, paces the men’s side with a win over Systema last Sunday. The Systema Active Smashers, meanwhile, subdued the Far Eastern U Tams Tuesday to wheel back into contention.

The top two teams in both categories after a double round elims will clash for the titles in the season-ending conference of the league backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Despite its loss to Army, Meralco is expected to hit back with Abby Maraño, Maureen Penetrante-Ouano, Maica Morada and Stephanie Mercado leading the charge with support from April Hingpit, Anne Hernandez and Japanese guest setter Misao Tanyama.

Wanida Kotruang, Meralco’s Thai import, remains a doubtful starter after fellow Thais Ampron Hyapha and Patcharee Saengmuan of Cagayan were barred from suiting up Tuesday for lack of International Transfer Certificates from the Thailand-based FIVB.

Still, the Rising Suns held their ground with an all-Filipino crew and even dictated the tempo against the Lady Troopers but blew a 2-1 set lead in the face of the latter’s strong finishing kick.

The Tams are also raring to strike back after dropping a five-setter to the Active Smashers although they expect a tough challenge from the debuting RTU Blue Thunder in the 4 p.m. opener.

Games can be viewed live on streaming on www.v-league.ph, according to the organizing Sports Vision.