Rising Suns, Ultra Fast Spikers seek finals spots

AFTER gripping wins in the semifinal opener, Cagayan Valley and PLDT Home Ultera shoot for title berths in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Rising Suns clash with Air Force at 2 p.m., while the Ultra Fast Spikers take on Cignal at 4 p.m. in the round-robin semifinals where the top two will advance to the finals.

Although the Rising Suns ruled the eliminations at 6-1, the tournament top seed had to rally past Cignal, 33-35, 25-23, 16-25, 25-21,15-11, at the start of the Final Four Sunday night.

UAAP MVP Mark Espejo unleashed 29 points, including 23 kills and five blocks, while Peter Torres and Rex Intal fired 16 markers each to power the Rising Suns.

The Ultra Fast Spikers also needed five sets to turn back Air Force, 28-26, 27-29, 25-22, 21-25, 18-16, behind Mark Alfafara and John Paul Torres.

“We never gave up and kept our cool,” said PLDT coach Odjie Mamon.

Alfafara unloaded 24 points to lead the Ultra Fast Spikers, who are bracing for a similarly tight encounter against the Cignal crew led by Lorenzo Capate and Edmar Bonono.

Air Force tries to bounce back from the heartbreaker as well behind Edwin Tolentino, Jeffrey Malabanan, Ruben Inaudito and Dante Alinsunurin.

League organizer Sports Vision said the games will be aired live via live streaming on www.v-league.ph.