IT will be the turn of Pool B teams to debut as Smart-Army and Sta. Lucia Realty parade new looks in when they square off in the 2018 Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
After an explosive double-header of Pool A teams in last Saturday’s opener at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, the Giga Hitters and Lady Realtors take floor in the 7 p.m. main game
Cocolife and University of the East-Cherrylume, also from Pool B, face each other at 4:15 p.m. to jumpstart their Invitational Conference bids.
F2 Logistics, meanwhile, kicked off its campaign with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-14 sweep over Foton to take the early lead in Pool A together with fellow Generika-Ayala, which took down newcomer United Auctioneers-University of the Philippines (UP-UA), 25-22, 25-9, 23-25, 25-16.
The No.1 team of each groups after the preliminaries will bag the first two outright semifinals berths.
Smart-Army and Sta. Lucia had a massive recruiting coup before the conference.
The Giga Hitters, who had a winless Grand Prix conference, tapped Army veterans Ging Balse-Pabayo, Joanne Bunag, Nene Baustista, Genie Sabas and Lut Malaluan.
“For Smart-Army, it always looks like we’re a new team,” said Smart-Army Head Coach Kungfu Reyes, who steered an Army team that ruled the 2016 Invitational after beating Thailand’s EST Cola in the final.
“Pressure is always there, and that is what we want. We just want to overachieve and surpass the previous rank of Smart. We won’t settle for less, we will target our best possible finish,” he added.
Besides the veteran Army core, Reyes is also pinning his hopes on his players from University of Santo Tomas bannered by Dimdim Pacres, Tin Francisco, Caitlyn Viray and Alina Bicar to add more fire power.
The Lady Realtors, on the other hand, will lean on the much-anticipated debut of former Ateneo Lady Eagle Jho Maraguinot, together with Head Coach George Pascua’s wards at Far Eastern University led by Toni Rose Basas, Carlota Hernandez and Jeanette Villareal.
“We want to meet the expectation of management in finishing better each conference or reach the semifinals. It’s achievable because I have very talented players. It will only depend on how they will jell as a team,” said Pascua, who is also banking on his mainstays MJ Phillips, Pam Lastimosa and setter Rebecca Rivera.