Following a heartbreaking meltdown in the semifinals, Cignal made sure to come out on top this time around.
The MJ Perez-led HD Spikers took care of business, overcoming a slip-up in the opener en route to a four-set, 20-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 win to deal PLDT another heartbreak in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference battle for bronze on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.
“Siyempre, sobrang happy dahil nakuha namin ‘yung bronze. At the same time, laging proud sa team namin dahil lumalaban talaga hanggang dulo,” said Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos.
“Lagi kaming thankful dahil ang daming natutunan, especially this conference na grabe ‘yung mga na-experience namin. Magiging baon namin ‘to sa sunod na liga, medyo matagal pa ‘yung sunod na liga eh. Sa [September 6] may laro na ulit,” he added, as the HD Spikers return to action on Friday against Farm Fresh for the Invitational Conference.
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Trailing by two points late in the fourth set, Perez took over, hammering down crucial hits and blocking a powerful attack from Lena Samoilenko.
That made three points of a 4-0 finishing kick that allowed the HD Spikers to turn a 21-23 disadvantage into a close 25-23 win.
A slight delay transpired during the start of Cignal’s late run after Ces Molina’s off-the-block hit was awarded to PLDT.
However, a referee’s challenge revealed that the ball did not hit Molina’s head, which prompted the officials to hand the HD Spikers the crucial point.
Perez took over from there, scoring the last three points to secure the win and finish with a team-high 26 points on 22 attacks, three blocks, and one ace. She also had 11 excellent digs and nine excellent receptions.
“I’m so happy of course for the result, it’s still not the result we [really] wanted. It’s still very painful, [what happened] the last game,” said the Venezuelan wing spiker.
“We are happy that we got this bronze medal. We have been working very hard and we have our mindset [at] this conference that we want to be on the podium. We made it and I’m so happy for the result,” she added.
Molina, meanwhile, backstopped their reinforcement and unloaded 20 points on 18 attacks and two aces laced with 12 excellent receptions in the two-hour, seven-minute contest.
Chai Troncoso chipped in 10 points after coming off the bench and starting the last three frames.
Meanwhile, Jackie Acuna and Gel Cayuna added eight points each. Cayuna also had 16 excellent sets in the win.
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On the other hand, Samoilenko unleashed 35 points to go along with 10 excellent receptions and nine excellent digs for the High Speed Hitters.
PLDT was coming off a controversial loss to finalist Akari in the semifinals.
Fiola Ceballos had 12 points, while the pair of Majoy Baron and Erika Santos ended up with six points each.
Kath Arado gathered 17 excellent digs and 13 excellent receptions, while Kim Fajardo tossed 13 excellent sets.
