MANILA, Philippines – The Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference elimination rounds are returning to the SM Mall of Asia Arena today, and the fight for the remaining two semifinal spots may get clearer or more complicated in a pair of must-win games for PLDT and Choco Mucho (Thursday).

The fact that the High-Speed Hitters and the Flying Titans will be playing teams that have already clinched the top two spots in post-elim play, the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and the Cool Smashers, respectively, could work in their favor.

The drawback is that Creamline and Chery Tiggo are in the mood to play Samaritans since they both want to bring a winning attitude into the following round as well as the momentum and confidence required in such a competitive round-robin round.

The High-Speed Hitters finish their elims campaign against the struggling Crossovers at 2:30 pm still riding the wave of back-to-back victories and looking to secure the crucial victory.

The High-Speed Hitters are currently 3 to 4 (win-loss), and even a third straight win by PLDT won’t guarantee them a spot in the semifinals. Their chances still depend on the assumption that only one of Petro Gazz (4 to 2), Cignal (3 to 3), Choco Mucho (3 to 3) and F2 Logistics (3 to 3) would surpass four victories.

In order to receive additional points in the event of a tie for No. 4, PLDT must defeat Chery Tiggo in three games.

The Crossovers, however, are also eager to avenge their two consecutive defeats to the Cool Smashers and the Angels since another loss would be detrimental to their morale, which had reached new heights after winning their first five games in the season-ending conference run by Sports Vision.

Also of interest will be the 5:30 p.m. The Flying Titans were trying to secure the first of two victories they would need to qualify for the semifinals without a matchup in the Choco Mucho and Creamline encounter.

The Open Conference and Invitational champions are back in the lead after being defeated by the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers last week, but they are also ratcheting up their push for a record grand slam, so overcoming the Cool Smashers would require a tremendous amount of effort, teamwork, and defense.

Tuesday marks the conclusion of Choco Mucho’s elims campaign against Cignal.

When the Angels play the winless UAI-Army Lady Troopers on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Petro Gazz will have the inside track on the third semifinal spot. The Angels defeated the Cool Smashers to win this conference in 2019 and will be looking to formally stake their claim.

With the final elimination game scheduled for Tuesday but postponed due to Typhoon Paeng on October 29 and pitting Cignal against Choco Mucho and F2 Logistics against Petro Gazz, Saturday’s fixtures also include the important Cignal-F2 Logistics encounter.

There are four channels that show games: One Sports, One Sports+, Cignal Play, and Smart Gigaplay.