Cignal dominated Choco Mucho with a straight-set win, 25-15, 25-21, 25-21, to secure the final Pool B semifinals berth in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The HD Spikers concluded their preliminaries run with three straight victories, building a 4-1 record, while the Flying Titans failed to make it past the semifinals for the fourth straight conference after finishing with a 3-2 card.
Jovelyn Gonzaga led the four players in double digits for Cignal with 13 points, consisting of 12 attacks and eight digs, while Rachel Daquis chipped in 12 markers.
“Kung paano kami magprepare, lumabas lahat. Pero yung training namin struggling, talagang ang hirap parang ang daming inaadjust tapos kahit ako personally, ang wish ko na lang ay maapply namin ito lahat sa game,” said HD Spikers head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
After trailing by a wide margin in the first two sets, Choco Mucho took the early lead in the third set where they were up by as much as three over Cignal, behind Maddie Madayag, who scored five of her six points in that span, 13-10.
The HD Spikers answered with a 12-5 rally, turning the three-point deficit into a four-point advantage, 22-18, in an attempt to put away the Flying Titans for good. Choco Mucho ran away from there, with a Sisi Rondina service error sealing the win for Cignal.
Coming off a red-hot 25-15 first-set performance, the Flying Titans turned it up a notch in the second set and opened the frame with a 10-2 lead behind Gonzaga, who scored five points in that span.
Choco Mucho, however, quickly bounced back with an 11-4 surge to trim the deficit to one, 13-14. It was not enough though, as Cignal went on to take a 2-0 set lead.
Rondina was the lone double-digit scorer for the Flying Titans with 14 points on a 28-percent attacking efficiency, while Caitlyn Viray and Madayag contributed six points apiece.
Cignal will join fellow Pool B semifinalist F2 Logistics in the postseason, consisting of four local teams and two foreign teams—Japan’s Kurashiki Ablaze and Kinh Bắc–Bắc Ninh of Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Choco Mucho will face the loser of the match between Chery Tiggo and PLDT later at 6:30 p.m. in the classification round for 7th place. (Ernest Martin Tuazon)
