MANILA: Akari will try to keep its spotless record at the start of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference crossover preliminary round at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Saturday.
Akari, Cignal and Capital1 are the top three teams from Pool B in the first round, while the bottom three from Pool A are Galeries Tower, Farm Fresh and Nxled.
The Chargers (5-0) and the Highrisers (0-5) will square off at 1 p.m., followed by the matches pitting HD Spikers (4-1) against the Foxies (2-3) at 3 p.m., and the Solar Spikers (3-2) against the Chameleons (1-4) at 5 p.m. in Pool D.
Prolific import Oly Okaro will banner Akari with support coming from locals Grethcel Soltones, Joy Soyud, Ivy Lacsina, Camille Victoria and Ced Domingo.
The Highrisers, on the other hand, will bank on Thai import Chuewulim Sutadta and locals France Ronquillo, Dimdim Pacres, Graze Bombita, RJ Doromal, Roselle Baliton and Andrea Marzan.
Cignal will be led by MJ Perez, Ces Molina, Roselyn Doria, Chin Basas, Jacqueline Acuna,
Riri Meneses and playmaker Gel Cayuna as they try to bounce back from a 25-15, 17-25- 19-25, 22-25 loss to Akari on Tuesday.
Capital1, coming off an 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 win over ZUS Coffee, will try sustain its form with the help of import Marina Tushova and locals Norielle Ipac, Des Clemente, Jenya Torres and Leila Cruz.
Meanwhile, scheduled to play in Pool C on Tuesday are Pool A top teams Chery Tiggo, Creamline and PLDT against Choco Mucho (1-4), Petro Gazz (2-3) and ZUS Coffee (0-5), respectively.
Chery Tiggo, Creamline and PLDT have similar 4-1 records.
The top four teams from each pool will advance to the knockout quarterfinals.
Source: Philippines News Agency