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[av_heading heading=’Underdogs F2 Logistics, Army eye upset wins in PSL semis ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Lower seeds F2 Logistics Cargo Movers and RC Cola-Army Lady Troopers hope to mount upset victories in the sudden-death semifinals of the2016 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix today at the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation in Legaspi, Albay.
The Cargo Movers are set to clash with the Petron Tri-Activ Spikers while the Lady Troopers are taking on defending champions Foton Tornadoes in a pair of explosive semifinal matches.
Led by talented reinforcements Sydney Kemper and Hayley Spelman, theCargo Movers finished the preliminaries with a 7-3 win-loss slate before knocking down the Cignal HD Spikers in four sets in the playoffs.
The Cargo Movers, however, is marching as the underdogs as they have yet to win against the Tri-Activ Spikers in their previous matches in the double-round preliminaries.
However, Cargo Movers head coach Ramil de Jesus said they would focus on their reception and increase their defensive intensity to stop Petron’s super import Stephanie Niemer, who torched them with nine service aces in their second encounter.
“We have to defend Niemer if we want to stand a chance against an elite team like Petron,” said de Jesus. “Niemer delivered nine aces in our previous game. I guess we have to strengthen our reception that would allow Sydney and Hayley to execute.”
Just like the Cargo Movers, the Lady Troopers have also yet to win over the Tornadoes in the preliminaries, prompting Reyes to be more creative in devising ways of beating them.
“I challenged our imports (Hailie Ripley and Kierra Holst) to stepup,” said Lady Troopers head coach Emilio Reyes. “Although they playedwell in the playoffs, I still want to see the hunger and fire in their eyes in the semifinals.”
“Winning over Foton, the reigning champion, is very difficult. It’s going to be a tough battle. But we will try our best,” added Reyes, who is also the head coach of University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses./PN
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