PASSI — Haunted by Cignal’s four-set loss to Chery Tiggo, Erika Santos barely got any sleep the night before.
The HD Spikers, without Dawn Catindig and Vanie Gandler due to Alas Women commitments, had cruised to a flawless 3-0 start in the 2025 PVL On Tour — sweeping Akari, Capital1, and Creamline — before stumbling against the surging Crossovers in Iloilo.
Against the Crossovers, Cignal looked out of sync, committing a slew of unforced errors that led to its first loss of the tournament. And it was a wake-up call that left Santos, the team’s leading scorer, restless and unable to sleep after they arrived at their hotel past midnight.
But instead of dwelling on the loss, Santos channeled her frustration into fuel.
The 27-year-old opposite hitter came out firing the next day, exploding for a career-best 30 points. Her performance powered the HD Spikers to a resounding four-set bounce-back win over ZUS Coffee, 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16, at the City of Passi Arena.
(C) PVL Images
“Balik lang sa kung ano yung pinagtrabahuan. Hindi kami papayag… Good thing na na-acknowledge namin yung nangyari last night. Na-acknowledge yung mga pagkakamali, yung mga lapses, areas of corrections,” said Santos, who was coming off a 14-point outing against the Thunderbelles.
“Nalaman namin kung ano pa yung mga kulang and kailangan naming ma-learn. ‘Di lang kami nag-stop. Nagtuloy-tuloy lang,” she added.
Santos had been nothing short of impressive since joining Cignal in the offseason, averaging 14.25 points in the HD Spikers’ first four games before delivering her best performance yet against ZUS Coffee.
Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos said he feels very pleased with what he’s seeing from Santos, particularly with how she responded after the team’s rough outing the day before, when they committed a total of 33 unforced errors.
“Sabi ko nga kanina, bawing-bawi ka kasi kahapon, ang dami ring errors. Sabi ko, ‘O, bawing-bawi ka na, ha.’ Sabi niya, ‘Oo, coach. Di ako nakatulog kagabi, e,” said delos Santos.
“Good thing naman kasi another opportunity for us today na kung ano yung nawala sa amin before — kung ano yung pagkukulang kahapon — kailangan mabawi namin. Which is, ayun, nag-materialize,” he added.
Santos, whose explosive performance helped Cignal secure an outright quarterfinals berth, was quick to deflect the praise. Instead, she gave credit to her teammates and coaches who, she said, never stopped believing in her.
“Good thing kasi yung mga paghihirap namin, nag-pay off. Credit po sa mga teammates ko at mga coaches namin na nag-trabaho,” said the former La Salle standout.
“No words kasi feel ko yung trust ng bawat isa, ng coaches. Magtatrabaho pa ko.”
#WATCH: Erika Santos glad to bounce back after yesterday’s game—she wasn’t satisfied and knew she could do more, leading to a career-high performance 🏐
📹 @jonashdcd /Tiebreaker Times#PVLonTour pic.twitter.com/EepDHyAFFb
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) July 20, 2025
