Pinay spikers confident, battle hosts today

Game today

2 p.m. – Philippines vs Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippine women’s volleyball finally marches into the 29th SEA Games battlefront, taking on Malaysia at the MiTEC Hall 11 here today.

The Pinay spikers brim with confidence going into the competition despite their seventh-place finish in the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship where they upended 2015 SEAG silver medalist Vietnam during the classification stage.

They play the Malaysians at 2 p.m. today then tangle with the Vietnamese also at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

A Top Two finish in the group will send them to a semifinal matchup versus either Indonesia or reigning SEAG champ Thailand.

Coach Francis Vicente has put a no-interview policy for his wards for them to focus on their quest to steer the country to a podium finish for the first time in 12 years.

On Monday night, they had a virtual bonding session with the Gilas cadets in a dinner at Mandarin Oriental Hotel hosted by San Miguel Corp. chairman Ramon Ang, through SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua who flew in here with PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa and some members of the PBA board to provide support.