Cignal star Erika Santos showed tonight that facing elite opponents brings out the best in her following the Super Spikers’ straight-set victory over the formerly-unbeaten PLDT in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
Santos starred as Cignal bounced back from a disappointing straight-set loss to Nxled with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 win over the High Speed Hitters at the Filoil Centre in San Juan City on Tuesday night.
The PVL On Tour MVP fired a game-high 17 points in the victory, lifting the Super Spikers to a league-best 4-1 record.
“Sa akin, wala naman po. I mean, masarap kasi makipaglaro sa mga matataas na players,” said Santos after the win.
“Siguro naging motivation lang sa amin for us para matuto, at sa kagustuhan manalo. Like ‘yung game namin kanina, pinusuan talaga ng mga players. Ayun, maganda talaga yung outcome.”
Cignal head coach Shaq Delos Santos echoed the same sentiment, saying that going up against a proven champion squad pushes his team to elevate its level of play. The match-up tested both their discipline and composure against one of the league’s toughest standards.
He added that consistently competing against the league’s best is essential to their growth, believing that going toe-to-toe with top contenders will ultimately steer them closer to where they want to be — contending for a championship.
“So, ako siguro, ano yung, like yung sinabi nga nung dalawa, yung paano makipag-compete especially sa champion team din… Siyempre champion team yan and knowing din their players din, and then the coaching staff, yung respect din namin sa kanila,” said delos Santos.
“Kaya talagang kailangan mag-all-out kami kasi gusto talaga namin manalo, pero alam namin talagang magiging mahirap. Alam naman namin yung — like yung sinabi mo nga, talagang pagkagusto talaga nilang maglaro nang todo-todo, talagang hindi ka makakaporma sa kanila.”
Santos added that their loss to Nxled last February 14 served as added motivation, a setback that sharpened their mindset and ultimately fueled both her and the team’s determination to bounce back stronger.
“Siguro, ano lang, yung tumatak lang din sa akin yung game namin, last game namin. Kasi may parka-competitive din ako,” said Santos.
“Ayaw ko na natatalo lang nang basta-basta. So siguro ‘yun… Yung nagbago sa bawat isa, nag-bounce back talaga at naiiayos namin ‘yung mindset namin. And ‘yung preparation namin maayos din.”
