F2 (Lady Spikers) battles Petron as Superliga opens

LA SALLE’S reunion team F2 Logistics battles underrated Cignal while Asian Club-bound Foton takes on a rebuilt Petron as the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference gets going today at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Free tickets to the games will be distributed before the gates open at 10 a.m.

The F2 Cargo Movers, easily the most popular among the eight-club field, boasts of the biggest names on the collegiate scene like overall rookie top pick Ara Galang, Kim Fajardo and Mika Reyes, among others.

They join regulars and fellow La Salle alumnae Cha Cruz, Stephanie Mercado and Aby Maraño in the F2 squad of their varsity coach Ramil de Jesus.

“Our strength is that we know everybody very well,” said De Jesus whose earlier foray as mentor of a La Salle-charged team lacked an oomph when his Meralco squad finished in the bottom rungs of the Superliga Grand Prix.

Cignal is not as strong on paper, but coach Sammy Acaylar said they will lean on a system anchored on defense.
Jeanette Panaga, Djanel Cheng, Janine Navarro and Jheck Dionela and former University of Santo Tomas star Carmela Tunay banner the HD Spikers.

“We want to establish a defense-minded team,” said Acaylar. “So far, so good. I think we’ll be ready to compete against the giants of this league.”

Foton, whose core will represent the country in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Club championships, will be treating this conference as its testing ground.

The 2015 Grand Prix champion gets to fine-tune its skills against defending champion Petron, which was orphaned by its superstars like Maraño, Rachel Daquis and Dindin Manabat.

With the three in the fold, Petron won last year’s title via a historic sweep. But it’s an entirely different team this season.

The opening ceremony is set at 1 p.m.