Cignal, bannered by the Alas Pilipinas national team, opened its 2025 AVC Men’s Champions League campaign with a valiant effort.
The HD Spikers showed heart and resilience in the next two frames, pushing home squad Osaka Bluteon to the limit before eventually bowing in straight sets, 11-25, 21-25, 21-25, on Sunday afternoon at the Panasonic Arena in Hirakata, Japan.
With the seasoned Osaka squad on the brink of sealing the win, Cignal refused to go down quietly—rising from a daunting 10-18 hole with a spirited rally in the third set, desperately trying to extend the match and keep its hopes alive.
Marck Espejo lit the spark, delivering three consecutive points—including a thunderous block on Japanese Olympian Yuji Nishida—that fueled a fiery 10-5 run. With momentum swinging and the crowd holding its breath, the HD Spikers slashed what was once an eight-point gap down to just three, 20-23.
However, a costly service error from Steven Rotter handed match point to Bluteon. Louie Ramirez kept Cignal’s hopes alive with a clutch kill to stave off defeat—but his ensuing service misfire sealed the HD Spikers’ fate in heartbreaking fashion.
(C) AVC
Now teetering on the brink of elimination with a 0-1 record in a stacked Pool B, Cignal must defeat China’s Shanghai Bright on Tuesday to keep its hopes of reaching the quarterfinals alive.
The HD Spikers actually started the game on the wrong foot, but managed to gain momentum that changed their momentum in the last two sets.
Nishida and Shoma Tomita fueled Bluteon’s scorching 18-5 start in the opening frame, putting Cignal on the back foot early and establishing the rhythm for a match that the home team would control from start to finish.
Cignal showed flickers of life late in the opening set, as Marck Espejo, Kim Malabunga, and Jau Umandal strung together a 5-3 run to break Bluteon’s rhythm. Though the set was already out of reach, the mini-surge gave the HD Spikers a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the second frame.
Riding the wave of late momentum from the opening set, Cignal surprisingly jumped to a 7-4 lead in the second frame, with Louie Ramirez and Kim Malabunga delivering timely hits and crucial blocks to momentarily wrest control.
Osaka displayed its composure and class under pressure, regaining the lead midway into the second. However, the HD Spikers refused to back down, staying within striking distance following a timely quick attack from Lloyd Josafat, 16-17.
Tomita, Larry Evbade-Dan, and Nishida, however, had different plans. The Bluteon stars unleashed a decisive 4-0 run, stretching their lead to 20-16 and ultimately securing the 2-0 set advantage.
Nishida paced Osaka, who now holds the early lead in Pool B with a 1-0 record, with 13 points, while Tomita and Miguel Angel Lopez added 12 points in a balanced offensive effort for the Japanese club.
(C) AVC
Meanwhile, no player from Cignal breached the double-digit mark in the one-hour, 11-minute match.
Espejo spearheaded the HD Spikers with nine points, while Ramirez came through with eight points in just the last two sets. Rotter chipped in seven points, while Malabunga had eight markers in the tough loss.
