EJ Casaña made his debut for powerhouse team Cignal on Friday in the 2023 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.
And it was a four-year dream realized for Casaña.
He put on a show right away, steering the HD Spikers to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-17 straight sets win over Santa Rosa at the Paco Arena.
He tallied 13 excellent sets, activating middle blocker JP Bugaoan with 15 points while also connecting with Wendel Miguel, Marck Espejo, Ysay Marasigan, and Peter Torres to name a few.
“Sobrang masaya at excited dahil dream team ko na po ang Cignal noong 2019 pa,” shared Casaña on the new chapter of his volleyball career after playing for PGJC-Navy last season.
It was a seamless change for Casaña, who came in lieu of Owen Suarez who now plays for the Sealions – virtually changing places.
HD Spikers head coach Dexter Clamor said how Casaña easily fitted in his system with just a month of training with the team under his belt.
“More than one month pa lang kaming nagtrraining pero yung jelling niya sa team, talagang maayos. May ipopolish ng kaunti pero hindi malayo yung hinahabol sa training saka sa game,” said Clamor, who admitted that he was trying to get the playmaker on his team for a long time now.
Both Clamor and Casaña came from the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA program of coach Sammy Acaylar – who is now guiding Imus-Ivy Tuason Photography in the 11-team field.
In a team loaded with big names, Casaña is thankful how the senior players and the coaching staff made it easy for him to adjust.
“Noong una po medyo nahihiya pa kasi nga po bago lang. Syempre Cignal is Cignal po,” said Casaña.
“Noong tumagal naman po okay naman, ginaguide naman ako nila coach, ng mga seniors na sumunod lang sa system, huwag mahiya at maging open lang sa lahat ng suggestion dahil para sa akin din naman yun.”
