THE spotlight turns to the Pool B teams today in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

The opening day matches on Tuesday saw PLDT and Nxled surviving five-setter matches over Creamline and Galeries Tower, respectively, and Chery Tiggo pulling off a straight-set romp of Farm Fresh in Pool A.

Starring comebacking Cuban import Wilma Salas, PetroGazz opens its quest for a third consecutive Reinforced Conference crown against ZUS Coffee at 2 p.m.

The Angels will enter the tournament with a lot of motivation, dedicating their campaign to former American reinforcement Janisa Johnson, who passed away last May after a battle with colon cancer.

Salas and Johnson teamed up in PetroGazz’s first-ever PVL championship in the 2019 Reinforced Conference.

The Thunderbelles, meanwhile, will play without this year’s top overall rookie pick Thea Gagate, who is currently with the Alas Pilipinas team.

Akari battles Capital1 at 4 p.m., and the main event will see Choco Mucho clash with Cignal at 6 p.m.

The Angels, third placers in the All-Filipino Conference, hope that Salas will bring back her old form that carried the club to a breakthrough title in 2019.

Salas will join forces with Brooke Van Sickle, Jonah Sabete and Aiza Pontillas on offense, Remy Palma leading the way in the middle and Djanel Cheng doing the playmaking chores for PetroGazz.

Kurashiki Ablaze’s Asaka Tamaru will anchor ZUS Coffee’s along with former College of Saint Benilde stars Gayle Pascual, Clo Mondoñedo, Jade Gentapa and Michelle Gamit, and holdover Dolly Verzosa.

Gamit and MJ Onofre will be the Thunderbelles’ main forces in the middle as they await Gagate to have on board.

This puts the focus on the second overall pick, Leila Cruz, who will make her debut for the Solar Spikers against the Chargers.

Cruz, a former La Salle opposite hitter coming off an ACL injury, will team up with Russian spiker Marina Tushova and Jorelle Singh as they aim to give Capital1 a winning start.

Meanwhile, the Chargers, who acquired Ivy Lacsina during the break, also hope to unleash a strong start behind American import Oluoma Okaro and Grethcel Soltones.

A down-to-the-wire battle is expected between Cignal and Choco Mucho in the absence of their national team representatives.

The HD Spikers, who are without Dawn Catindig, Vanie Gandler and Jovelyn Gonzaga, hope to make up from their previous conference’s disappointment with Venezuelan reinforcement MJ Perez, Ces Molina, Riri Meneses and Gel Cayuna.

Cignal missed the All-Filipino Conference semifinals as it fumbled late in the preliminary round.

The Flying Titans, on the other hand, expect a solid performance from Greek import Zoi Faki, new addition Dindin Manabat, and holdovers Royse Tubino, Maddie Madayag and Mars Alba.

Alas members Sisi Rondina and Cherry Nunag will be out for the meantime, as Choco Mucho hopes to sustain the gains of its back-to-back PVL Finals appearances.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Theodore P. Jurado