Cignal bounced back from its meltdown against defending champion Creamline, handing Farm Fresh its third consecutive loss, 25-10, 25-14, 25-15 in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference, Thursday at the Philsports Arena.
The HD Spikers suffered a 26-28, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14 loss before the Holy Week break after squandering a 2-0 advantage against the Cool Smashers, but managed to recover against the Foxies to force a three-way tie with Chery Tiggo and Petro Gazz at the fourth spot with identical 5-2 records.
“Syempre sobrang happy and thankful kasi yung mga pinaghirapan talaga namin before holy week and after talagang na-apply namin ng maayos. Ang isang challenge lang samin is paano namin siya ma-maintain the whole game,” said Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos.
Jovelyn Gonzaga, who produced 22 points, 21 digs, and 16 receptions in the loss versus Creamline, sustained her all-around play and tallied a game-high 17 points on 14 attacks, two aces, and one block to go along with 10 excellent digs and seven excellent receptions for the HD Spikers.
“Sobrang proud sa team kasi cinommit talaga nila yung sarili nila para mapag-perform nang maayos, especially si Jov [Gonzaga] din grabe yung leadership niya kanina sa loob ng court, maririnig naman natin yung sa communication and kita sa performance talaga,” added delos Santos.
Cignal team captain Ces Molina scored 11 points, including four kill blocks, in the 68-minute victory while Vanie Gandler and Rose Doria chipped in 10 and eight points, respectively.
Gel Cayuna glued things together, dishing out 18 excellent sets to go along with five points while Dawn Macandili-Catindig registered 11 excellent digs and seven excellent receptions.
The HD Spikers made it rain from the service line, tallying 10 aces against the Foxies while also converting 47 attack points on 119 attempts.
Cignal will look to build from this win and take on the Crossovers on Thursday, 6:00 p.m. at the same venue.
On the other hand, Farm Fresh dropped to 2-5, tied with Akari and Galeries Tower in the seventh to ninth spots.
Chinnie Arroyo led the Foxies with eight points, all from attacks, while Trisha Tubu, who spent some time in the middle blocker position in this match, was held to just six points.
Farm Fresh struggled to get points on the board, registering only 28 attacks and one service ace. The team also failed to get a single block in the straight-set contest.
