The slow start has become a thing of the past for the Cignal HD Spikers, after they comfortably dispatched the Fourbees-Cavite Patriots in straight sets, 25-13, 28-26, 25-11, to earn their third consecutive victory midway through the Spikers’ Turf Season 1 Open Conference held earlier today, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Balanced scoring did the trick for the HD Spikers with Reyson Fuentes topping the list by scoring 11 points. Lorenzo Capate Jr. added seven points, while four more players had six points each to overwhelm the still-winless Patriots. In their losing effort, Berwin Coming led the way with eight points, while teammates, Christopher David and Julius Sioson, also evenly combined for 12 points.
Fuentes and Capate drilled in seven of Cignal’s first 16 points—the difference in the second technical timeout of the first set. If it not for their errors, Cignal may have even won the set much earlier. The Patriots were given opportunities to reduce the deficiy, but only got as near as 16-11 as the HD Spikers banked on Christensen, who came off the bench, to move out of Fourbees-Cavite’s sights. Moreover, Coming, who scored half of his points in the opening set, tried to save his team from a bad start, but it was not to be. Despite only committing two spiking errors, the Patriots were totally outclassed by the well-oiled Cignal team.
In the second set, it was Fourbees-Cavite who got off to a better start. Paired with opponents’ errors, points from Manuel Doliente, David, and Coming built an 11-6 advantage. Not letting the set slip away easily, Cignal Captain, Jay Dela Cruz, took charge and scored five of his team’s next eight points to narrow the gap to a solitary point just before Neil Ytorzaita gave Fourbees-Cavite a slight advantage in the second technical timeout. It did not last though, for Cignal’s Jeffrey Lansangan scored off two quick spikes to level the score at 17-all. What followed was a duel between the two teams, neither ever ledding by more than two heading towards the end of the set. Alexis Faytaren gave Cignal a 22-20 lead, but the HD Spikers lacked the instinct to kill the set much earlier. Instead, the Patriots stole set point after Ralph Diezmo miscued on his drop attempt. Down at 24-25, Cignal was bailed out by two textbook crosscourt spikes from Edmar Bonono and Herschel Ramos, only for Fuentes to waste the regained set point with a service error. Despite this, fortune still favored Cignal as Fourbees-Cavite was denied by the net twice, deflating a buoyant rally that may have levelled the set score at one apiece.
Threatened in the previous set, Cignal made sure that the third set will be a much easier one for them. They raced ahead 8-3 entering the first technical timeout of what was the game’s last period with the help of the Patriots’ costly mistakes. Fuentes struck his points together with Randean Abcede’s errors in the middle of the set to expand the HD Spikers’ lead to as much as 14. Fourbees-Cavite tried to stay in the match, but their anemic scoring just made things easier for Cignal to extend their winning streak to three.
Coach Michael Cari-o of Cignal was happy with his team’s development. “‘Yung mga pinaghihirapan namin nakikita ko doon sa team ko,” he said while elaborating on the improvement of his team’s execution.
Another thing that Cari-o was glad to see was the way the players have become more accurate in serving, reducing errors which often prompt momentum swings in volleyball matches. “Medyo nag-shuffle ako ng konti ng tao. Gusto kong makita ‘yung mga players ko na hindi nagagamit, Gusto kong makitang maglaro kasi iniiisip ko na sa mga darating naming mga laban kung sila ang huhugutin ko, alam nila kung anong gagawin nila,” he stated.
Lastly, he emphasized the importance of improvement to his players. “Hindi dapat steady lang ‘yung kung ano ginagawa natin. Kailangan mag-improve para sa mga susunod na laban, sanay na ‘yung team.”
The Scores:
Cignal (3) – Fuentes 11, Capate 7, Dela Cruz 6, Bagalay 6, Castel 6, Faytaren 6, Bonono 5, Christensen 5, Diezmo 4, Ramos 3, Lansangan 2, Montero (L), Luces (L)
Fourbees-Cavite (0) – Coming 8, David 6, Sioson 6, Doliente 4, Ytorzaita 4, Abcede 2, Catipay 2, Ramos 1, Kalingking (L), Baroy (L)
Set scores: 25-13, 28-26, 25-11
