Army seeks a semifinal slot against winless Coast Guard Thursday in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Troopers, in high spirits after racking up three consecutive victories, are heavily favored in the 4 p.m. encounter with the Lady Dolphins, who are practically out with five straight setbacks.
Army coach Rico de Guzman is even expected to try out combinations in preparation for their date with early semifinalist Cagayan Valley at the resumption of the single-round elimination conference backed by Accel and Mikasa late next week.
The league takes a nine-day break starting tomorrow to give way to the staging of the Asian Women’s U-23 Volleyball Championship where some of the V-League standouts will play for the national team.
PLDT, which won all of its six games, also grabbed an early semifinal ticket with Cagayan (5-1) in the looming Final Four showdown two weeks from now.
The day’s other game will pit Navy and Baguio at 2 p.m. with the Lady Sailors closing out their campaign with a win to boost their bid to reach the next round.
Meanwhile, unbeaten Cagayan Valley expects a rough outing against Army as it aims to sweep the Spikers’ Turf elimination at 11 a.m.
Cavite and IEM, both winless in five games, collide 9 a.m. June Navarro