Cignal recovered from a second set hiccup with a dominant showing in the third before holding sway in the fourth to outlast Chery Tiggo, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 25-20, and move a win away from winning the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference third place, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The HD Spikers will shoot for the bronze medal on Saturday, 4 p.m., at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Cignal is looking to claim its fourth third-place finish in the country’s premier league. It also landed third in the previous Invitational Conference after beating the now-defunct F2 Logistics.
“Kahit na nag-struggle kami nung last game namin, good thing nakabawi kami and importante para sa amin ‘to… Papahalagahan namin ‘tong bronze medal match kasi syempre medal pa rin ‘to and talagang ilalaban namin ‘to hanggang dulo,” said Cignal head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
It was just a slim three-point lead in the third stanza for the HD Spikers when they broke away through the efforts of Jovelyn Gonzaga for a commanding 20-11 lead, eventually winning 25-15.
Jasmine Nabor and Pauline Gaston connived to cut the Chery Tiggo deficit to two late in the fourth, 18-20, but Vanie Gandler and Gonzaga responded for Cignal to finish the game in one hour and 49 minutes.
Gandler unloaded 21 points on 20 attacks and a block, while Gonzaga delivered 15 points including three blocks she laced with 17 digs and 12 excellent receptions.
“I’m very happy of course with how the team performed. Given that we didn’t have much time to rest, we’re very tired but today was really more of a test of character and heart so we all just poured our hearts out. Hopefully, the same will happen on Saturday,” said Gandler, who is just on her second conference in the PVL.
Invitationals MVP Ces Molina added 13 points of her own along with 14 digs and 14 receptions while Gel Cayuna orchestrated the offense with 21 excellent sets.
Pauline Gaston led the Crossovers’ drive with 14 points on 11 spikes and three blocks, while Mylene Paat and Eya Laure dropped 13 points apiece with the latter also tallying 10 digs.
EJ Laure also came through with 12 points but Chery Tiggo’s errors spelled the difference, giving up 29 free points to the HD Spikers.
This was the Crossovers’ fifth straight loss dating back to the November 28 when they lost to Creamline in their penultimate match in the preliminary round.
