Royal rumble
The format has now shifted to knockout matches. That means every set matters and the margin of error has slimmed to razor-thin.
It also means one thing: Past results bear little relevance.
The play-in matches of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference will have six teams squaring off as if it were their first meeting against each other as they trek a sudden-death path to the semifinals.
Capital1 and Choco Mucho enter the phase with momentum after recent four-set victories over Galeries Tower and ZUS Coffee, respectively. But those wins offer no guarantees as the two squads bank on familiar names in a bid to advance deeper into the tournament.
“Of course, they will study us and we have to do the same,” Capital1 head coach Jorge Souza de Brito said. “The first part is study and rest. They have a lot of potential, so we’ll see what we can counter. But for sure, it’s time to go.”
Capital1 will rely on superstar Bella Belen, who has been on a scoring tear in the conference that any dip below the 20-point mark generates headlines, to anchor its offense.
No pushover
But Galeries is far from being a pushover, having shown their ability to take the fight to powerhouse squads.
Choco Mucho, meanwhile, will lean on Sisi Rondina and a deeper supporting cast against ZUS Coffee, which is looking to rediscover the form that made it a finalist last conference.
“This win is very good for us,” Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin said on the Flying Titans’ victory over the Thunderbelles. “It gives us extra motivation when we face them again. We know we can dominate and we’ll work on the adjustments we need in training.”
The Play-In uses a step-ladder format, where teams must survive successive knockout matches to advance. Winners of the initial pairings will move on to face higher-seeded opponents, with Capital1 or Galeries Tower set to take on Nxled and Choco Mucho or ZUS Coffee meeting Akari.
The victors from those matches will then compete for the final two semifinal berths.
Battle for semifinals
Meanwhile, the top four teams—PLDT, Cignal, Creamline and Farm Fresh—will battle for the first two semifinal spots on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. PLDT faces Farm Fresh at 4 p.m., followed by Creamline against Cignal in a marquee matchup.
The losers of those games will drop into crossover knockout matches against the Play-In survivors, further intensifying the race to the Final Four.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
