Philippine National Police and Far Eastern U collide in a virtual knockout duel today even as Air Force shoots for a fifth straight victory in the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Both winless in five games, the Lady Patrollers and the Lady Tamaraws square off at 2 p.m. with the winner avoiding elimination from the season-ending tournament.
The winner will still contend with Navy for the last spot in the quarterfinals, where Cagayan, Army, Air Force, Smart and Meralco have already secured slots.
The Air Women collide with dangerous Meralco in the second game at 6 p.m.
Both teams are out to improve on their records heading into the quarterfinals, where results from the elimination round will be carried over.
Air Force is the hottest team in the league next to Cagayan after racking up four straight victories. The Air Women opened the tournament with back-to-back losses.
The Air Women go into the game confident after overpowering PNP, 25-21, 25-11, 25-21, last Sunday.
Joy Cases led the way for Air Force with 18 points, with Judy Ann Caballejo and Maika Ortiz also dishing out double-digit outputs.
Meralco, with a 3-3 slate, fell to the Army Women in straight sets the last time out, but the Power Spikers remain a tough matchup for the Air Women with a team built around Coco Wang, Fille Cainglet and Stephanie Mercado.
PNP will pin its hopes on Janine Marciano and Thai reinforcement Patcharee Sangmuang, who combined for 23 points in a losing effort against the Air Women.
Using the tournament as part of its preparation for the UAAP season, FEU has struggled to match the firepower of other teams with its inexperienced squad. Cedelf P. Tupas