FOTON and Shopinas face off for an outright semifinal slot on Thursday in the Philippine Super Liga All Filipino Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The winner of the 6:15 p.m. match will join unbeaten Petron in the semifinals, while the loser will play in the knockout quarterfinals.
The Tornadoes and Clickers both hold 5-4 win-loss records and are looking to avoid joining Philips Gold, Mane 'N Tail and Cignal in the quarterfinals at the Quezon Convention Center in Quezon Province on Saturday.
The Tornadoes are on a two-match win streak, the last victory a three-setter against Cignal.
The Clickers, on the other hand, are coming off a straight-sets loss to Petron.
Bottom teams Mane ‘N Tail and Cignal clash in the 4:15 p.m. match.
"We still need to win our next match to improve on our standing," said Foton coach Villet Ponce-de Leon , who has been drawing good numbers from Patty Orendain and rookies Angeli Araneta, Nicole Tiamzon and Pam Lastimosa in their past couple of games.
"We need to win that match in order to make our target which is advancing to the semis. I told the team that we have to do everything to be able to secure that second semifinal berth."
The defeat to Petron serves as a motivation for the title-hungry Lady Clickers, says coach Ramil de Jesus.
"We will be prepared," said De Jesus.
"It's going to be a no-tomorrow game. We can't afford to relax against a team like Foton in a highly-crucial match like this."
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