CUSTOMS and BaliPure try to book the last two semifinal berths as they take on Coast Guard and Laoag, respectively, on Wednesday in the Shakey's V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Transformers missed a chance to advance to the round of four in their last outing, dropping a stinging 22-25, 22-25, 14-25 defeat to the Pocari Sweat Lady Warriors.
But Alyssa Valdez and company are fancied to finally clinch a semifinal spot as they battle winless Coast Guard at 4 p.m.
Customs has three wins in five matches and is looking to join UST and Pocari in the next round.
Valdez, who leads the league in the MVP race being the best in scoring and serving, No. 2 in spiking and seventh in digs, is again expected to lead the way even as Customs hopes to draw solid performances from Thai reinforcements Kanjana Kuthaisong and setter Nattanicha Jaisaen.
"We just lost focus in that game against Pocari but I'm confident we could recover from it," said Customs coach Sherwin Meneses.
BaliPure, meanwhile, is on a roll, sweeping the last three games after losing to UST.
The Purest Water Defenders’ 25-13, 25-23, 25-17 win over the UP Lady Maroons last Saturday put them closer to a semis stint.
BaliPure is a slight favorite in the 6 p.m. match against embattled Laoag, which holds a 2-4 card. The match will be aired live over ABS-CBN Sports + Action Channel and via streaming on on www.v-league.ph.
The Customs-Coast Guard match will be shown on a delayed basis.
"We've put extra effort in improving our team chemistry and we're happy we're making progress," said BaliPure skipper Charo Soriano.