Well-rested and firing on all cylinders, Cignal handed PLDT its first loss of the tournament with a dominant 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 victory, securing a bounce-back win in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Filoil Centre.
Coming off a nine-day layoff, the Erika Santos-led Super Spikers bounced back from their straight-set loss to Nxled on Valentine’s Day, storming back into the win column and reclaiming the top spot with a 4-1 record.
“Sobrang happy and proud kasi yung sa, I think, 10 days? 9 days na recovery and preparation namin ang laki nung naging impact,” said head coach Shaq delos Santos.
Santos poured in a game-high 17 points to lead Cignal’s charge. Gel Cayuna orchestrated the offense with 18 excellent sets and chipped in nine points and five excellent digs in an all-around effort.
Vanie Gandler added 14 points and eight excellent receptions in the win. Then Ishie Lalongisip seized her starting opportunity with seven markers and nine excellent receptions. Jackie Acuna and Rose Doria-Aquino, meanwhile, added six each.
Team captain Dawn Catindig patrolled the floor and came up with 17 excellent digs in the one-hour, 28-minute victory, where the Super Spikers survived a late fightback from the High Speed Hitters to secure the bounce-back win.
Cignal asserted its dominance in the key departments, winning the battle in attacks, 48-39; and firing six aces while holding PLDT scoreless from the service line.
“Sobrang happy kasi grabe din yung naging effort ng team, nung mga players namin. Kasi the way sila maglaro kanina, alam namin yung sign na talagang eager na eager silang manalo. So, ayun,” delos Santos added.
Cignal aims to make it back-to-back victories against Akari on Saturday, 4:00 PM at the same venue.
On the other hand, the High Speed Hitters — who came into the game as the last unbeaten team — saw their shot at an automatic semifinals berth slip away after falling to 3-1 in the standings.
Savannah Davison paced PLDT with 14 points and seven excellent receptions, while Kianna Dy put up 11 points.
Alleiah Malaluan chipped in eight markers off the bench. Mika Reyes tallied seven points on four blocks and three attacks.
The High Speed Hitters will look to bounce back versus ZUS Coffee, also on Saturday at 6:30 PM.
