Army in crucial clash with Chery tiggo

Denied the last time out, Army takes the floor again for another shot of forging a playoff for the last semifinal berth, slugging it out with a Chery Tiggo side clinging to dear life in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Running fourth in the seven-team field heading into the last three elimination round playdates, the Lady Troopers need nothing less than a win in their 2:30 p.m. clash for the inside track for the fourth semifinal slot, as a loss would complicate matters for them.

As things stand, Cignal, which is unbeaten in four games, already earned passage into the next round and could very well take it easy against Petro Gazz in the 5:30 p.m. game, with the Angels all but out of it with a 0-4 card.

Idle Creamline and PLDT have 3-1 records and could earn automatic entries into the semifinals in the event of an Army loss.

Choco Mucho is another team that could benefit from an Army loss as it would still be possible for the Flying Titans to finish with three wins in the event of a sweep of their last two games.

Tournament format calls for the top four local teams to advance to the semifinals, where they will be joined by the KingWhale squad from Taiwan and the Kobe Shinwa team from Japan for another round of eliminations.

The top two teams will clash in a winner-take-all showdown for the title.