Playing for the first time without two of their top stars, the Cignal HD Spikers are uniting as a team to fill the void left by Ces Molina and Riri Meneses as they power through the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
The HD Spikers were caught by surprise at the start of the year when Molina and Meneses decided not to extend their contracts with the squad, leaving them with only 12 players for the five-month-long tournament.
With the departure of former PVL MVP Ces Molina and former Best Middle Blocker Riri Meneses, team veterans Catindig and Gandler expressed their readiness to take on the challenge of stepping up in place of the former stars.
“More of siguro I just give my best lagi kung ano ‘yung kailangan gawin and sobrang minimal naman ng ginagawa ko. Actually, ‘yung magsabi ng reminders ganyan kasi everyone naman themselves is a leader, so hindi masyadong grabe ‘yung role ko,” said Catindig, who also experienced the disbandment of F2 Logistics early last year.
“Ang maganda sa team lahat kami may responsibilities, it’s a shared leadership so hindi rin ako na-overwhelm na ako ‘yung ginawang captain,” added the veteran libero, who took on the captaincy after Molina’s departure.
“It’s really challenging, of course, but then I’m not alone. I have the whole team, we have Ishie (Lalongisip) who can really step up. We didn’t dwell on that. I think the only way to improve is to accept the challenges,” echoed Gandler.
(C) PVL Images
Cignal aced its first test without its departed stars, defeating Galeries Tower 25-17, 25-20, 25-19, which allowed them to tie Petro Gazz for the number one spot with identical 5-1 records.
It was a total team effort for the HD Spikers, with Gandler leading the way with 17 points. Rose Doria-Aquino, Ishie Lalongisip, and Jackie Acuña all tallied nine points apiece in the victory.
“I’m really happy with the performance of the team kasi inside the court, you can hear everyone leading in their own ways, as in teamwork talaga. And it’s so nice to hear and it’s so fun to play,” said the former Ateneo standout.
“So we just accepted the challenges that we will face and no pressure kasi we trained for this, everyone trained for this. It’s the same teamwork.”
(C) PVL Images
Head coach Shaq delos Santos, meanwhile, felt pleased with how his team responded to the challenge.
“Well, una iyong sarili ko muna yung cinompose ko kasi siyempre, normally sa pagiging coach, marami talagang challenges na dumarating, kung paano na lang i-handle yung ganung situation. And ang good thing kasi doon sa team, medyo late na ako nakabalik doon sa training, pero habang mino-monitor ko sila sa video sa Zoom, yung performance hindi naman nagbabago,” said delos Santos.
“Actually, mas nag-eenjoy pa nga sila. Nagco-commit talaga sila doon sa obligations na dapat nilang trabahuhin and goal that’s why siguro nagkaroon kami ng magandang result. Hopefully, ayun nga, mas mag-progress pa and mag-improve.”
