The Cignal HD Spikers made quick work of the Standard Insurance-Navy Lady Corvettes in a straight set win, 25-12, 25-22, 25-18, Saturday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre as they await the result of the final Group B match-up on Sunday, July 31.
Jeanette Panaga led all scorers with 16 points, 12 coming from attacks and three coming from blocks. Fellow Benildean Jannine Navarro added 11 points while team captain Micmic Laborte added 10 points, seven from blocks.
“Hypocrite ko pag hindi sinabi kong hindi ako disappointed,” head coach Sammy Acaylar admitted as his team peaked late in the tournament. “But that is reality and I have to accept na yung team ko hindi kaagad nag-on. Nung huli na lang nagka-bond yung team namin.”
The HD Spikers quickly jumped on an 18-9 lead in the opening set. Errors by Cignal and unanswered attacks by Jonah Sabete tried to give life to Standard Insurance but back-to-back kills by Cherry Vivas and Rizza Mandapat and an error off a free ball by Pau Soriano handed the first set to Cignal.
Cignal once again gained an early lead that eventually turned to a 24-15 lead. However, the HD Spikers had a tough time closing out its second set. A down the line attack by Sabete sparked a 7-0 Navy rally capped by a Lilet Mabbayad point coming from a joust against Navarro. With her team’s lead down to just two, 24-22, team captain Laborte took matters into her own hands with a quick attack to end a potential Standard Insurance hijack.
Gaining momentum from the second set, Standard Insurance was able to keep pace with Cignal. But with the score knotted at 14-all, Laborte became a woman possessed, blocking every ball coming at her. Laborte scored four points off the block that gave Cignal a 20-16 edge. The HD Spikers then finished off the game capped by a find by Cheng to Panaga for a kill.
“Very happy ako kasi sino bang coach ang hindi happy pag nanalo ang team nila,” Acaylar said. Ibig sabihin na-absorb na nila ang mga tinuturo namin at siyempre yung practice namin, hindi ko na sila pine-pressure.”
Florence Madulid led Navy with eight points, six from attacks, while Sabete and Soriano scored seven points each.
With a 2-1 slate, can either be the top or second seed the knockout classification matches depending on the result of the Standard Insurance (1-1) versus Generika (2-0) on Sunday, July 31.
“I told my players na huwag na nilang i-bother sarili nila sa mga nangyayari. The goal now is maging number one sa Group B,” Acaylar closed.
The Scores:
Cignal (3) – Panaga 16, Navarro 11, Laborte 10, Tunay 9, Vivas 3, Cheng 3, Cortel 2, Mandapat 1, Musa 0, Hingpit 0, Dionela (L), Cortel (L)
Standard Insurance-Navy (0) – Madulid 8, Sabete 7, Soriano 7, Acuna 3, Veronas 3, Mabbayad 3, Diaz 2, Dela Cruz 1, Serafica 0, Martinez 0, Eguia 0, Fortuno (L), Ticar (L)
