Defending champion Cignal vented its frustration on PGJC-Navy, cruising to a 25-19, 25-15, 25-15 victory to tighten its grip on the second spot in the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Coming off a disheartening loss to rival Criss Cross last Friday, the playoff-bound HD Spikers wasted no time dismantling the Sealions, dominating from start to finish to improve their record to 7-2 in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
“Yun naman talaga ‘yung dapat naming gawin, mag-bounce back from our loss against Criss Cross. What’s good about this situation is nasa semifinals kami, and may chance kaming bumawi against Criss Cross,” said Cignal head coach Dexter Clamor.
“Siyempre some of them talagang down, as in ang daming negative na iniisip ng mga players. Cinall out namin right away na hindi pa natatapos ‘yung liga eh, meron pa kaming chance (makabawi),” he added.
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Louie Ramirez, who was limited to just six points against the King Crunchers, bounced back in a big way, tallying a game-high 16 points along with nine excellent receptions in the one-hour, 14-minute encounter.
Steven Rotter and Vince Abrot, who only played in the first two sets against Navy, both finished with nine points for the HD Spikers, while JM Ronquillo contributed seven markers.
Meanwhile, Owa Retamar orchestrated the offense with 17 excellent sets in Cignal’s emphatic bounce-back win in the tournament supported by Arena Plus and Mikasa.
The HD Spikers dominated in all departments, amassing 43 attacks, 12 kill blocks, and five service aces, while the undermanned Sealions managed just 22 attacks, three blocks, and no aces.
Cignal aims to finish the eliminations with back-to-back victories when they face Alpha Insurance on Wednesday at 1:00 PM at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
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Meanwhile, Navy absorbed its seventh consecutive defeat, dropping to 1-8 in the standings.
John Ashley Jacob and Peter Quiel — who have since stepped up in the absence of Greg Dolor, Omar Lioc, Marvin Hairami, and Joeven Dela Vega — managed only six points each for the Sealions.
Navy will attempt to end its campaign on a positive note when it takes on unbeaten Criss Cross, also on Wednesday at 3:30 PM.
