Air Force, Cignal start Spikers’ Turf final battle

BOTH claiming to be underdogs, Air Force and Cignal HD begin their title quest in the Spikers’ Turf Season 1 Reinforced Conference Finals today at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Airmen, wielding a twice-to-beat edge in the semifinals, survived Philippine Navy in five sets while the HD Spikers went through a similar route before defeating PLDT Home Ultera to forge the best-of-three championship showdown.

Between the two, Air Force has the edge, having beaten Cignal HD, 25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, in their lone elimination face-off over a month ago.

Insisting that the odds are just about even, Air Force coach Rhovyl Verayo quickly downplayed their chances.

“We don’t consider ourselves the favorites, because I think it’s going to be a pretty even match,” said Verayo. “We beat Cignal, but anything can still happen in the finals.”

“We need to play hard and aggressive to be able to beat Air Force,” said Cignal coach Michael Carino.

PLDT Home Ultera and Navy face each other in another best-of-three series for third place at 1 p.m. before the league awards the top performers of the conference.