Foton, Cignal clash in key match

MANILA, Philippines — Foton tries to recover lost ground and re-assert its mastery over Cignal in a bid to keep its hold of third spot in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre today.

But ranged against a rival coming off victories over Sta. Lucia and Marinerang Pilipina, the Tornadoes know they need to work doubly hard to stop the HD Spikers in their 4:15 p.m. encounter.

“I’m excited for our matchup against Foton because they beat us in the first round. We prepared well for this game,” said Cignal head coach Edgar Barroga, whose wards are in fifth with a 5-5 card.

Rachel Anne Daquis, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Mylene Paat and Alohi Robins-Hardy are expected to raise the level of their respective games as they go up against a team led by sisters Jaja Santiago and Dindin Santiago-Manabat, who struggled as Foton absorbed a three-set loss to the unbeaten F2 Logistics last week.

Focus will also be on the Generika Ayala-Sta. Lucia clash at 7 p.m. with the Lifesavers gunning for its seventh win against five losses.

Generika-Ayala nearly pulled off a shocker against F2, which it dragged to a five-set duel recently. But skipper Angeli Araneta suffered a knee injury in the stretch, enabling the Cargo Movers to escape with the 25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13 win and extend their win run to 11.

But Araneta remains optimistic that they can get back on the winning track and claim a good spot in the quarterfinals.

“I think it’s still a good sign for us. At least we already redeemed ourselves from some of our low moments,” said Araneta.