Cignal boosted its quarterfinals bid after taking down Akari in four sets, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, to kick off Pool D action in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Behind Slovak import Katrin Trebichavska and PVL on Tour MVP Erika Santos, the Super Spikers overcame a second-set slip-up before fending off a gritty Chargers side in the last two frames to climb into the top eight of the overall standings with a 3-3 record.
Trebichavska fired 25 points, built on 22 attacks, two blocks, and one ace, while also contributing nine excellent digs and seven excellent receptions. Santos added 19 points on 13 attacks, three kill blocks, and three aces.
The win kept Cignal within striking distance of a quarterfinal berth, but the road ahead only gets tougher with unbeaten ZUS Coffee (November 13) and defending champion Creamline (November 18) next on their schedule.
(C) PVL Images
“Siyempre una, sobrang happy. ‘Yun talaga ‘yung target. Kailangan manalo talaga,” said Super Spikers head coach Shaq delos Santos. “Siguro nagbunga lang ng maganda lahat nung effort and pinaghirapan namin sa training.”
“Itong panalo namin, napakalaking impact para sa amin. Babaunin namin ito para sa next game namin. Of course, ZUS [Coffee], wala pang talo, but naniniwala kasi kami sa team namin na kapag naglaro lang sila nang maayos, kakayanin namin ‘yung game,” he added.
Akari threatened to send the match to a deciding fifth set after Camille Victoria delivered back-to-back aces that trimmed a 17-21 deficit to just two points, 19-21, late in the fourth frame.
Trebichavska, however, quickly answered with consecutive attacks for Cignal. Then American import Annie Mitchem countered with a powerful hit that cut the lead back to three.
Ishie Lalongisip and Jackie Acuña then put the finishing touches for the Super Spikers, sealing the win after two hours of action.
“Obviously, the whole team had a really good mindset going into this. We all wanted to win. We all knew we can. And there was never hesitation to be talked about or even felt. Everybody was so sure we can do this. And we did it,” said Trebichavska.
Rose Doria-Aquino chipped in 12 points, including four kill blocks. Lalongisip added 11 points and 10 excellent receptions in the bounce-back victory.
Gel Cayuna orchestrated the offense with 18 excellent sets along with four points, while team captain Dawn Catindig anchored the defense with 25 excellent digs.
(C) PVL Images
Meanwhile, the Chargers slid to 3-3 in the standings but remained inside the top eight after absorbing their second straight loss of the tournament.
Mitchem led Akari with 22 points on 19 attacks and three kill blocks to go with 12 excellent receptions, while Fifi Sharma contributed 13 points on 10 attacks and three rejections.
Justine Jazareno anchored the floor defense with 16 excellent receptions and 13 digs.
The Chargers aim to snap their skid when they face also-ran Nxled on Thursday at 4:00 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
