Coming off a stinging defeat against rival Criss Cross, defending champion Cignal vented its frustrations on a hapless PGJC-Navy side in straight sets, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21, in the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference on Wednesday at the Paco Arena.
Determined to move on from Sunday’s loss, the Super Spikers came out with a sense of urgency. They imposed their will from start to finish to climb to 3-1 for solo second — just behind the unbeaten King Crunchers at 4-0 in the season-ending tournament.
“Actually, ‘yung body language nila nung pagkatalo sa Criss Cross, damang-dama namin the following training,” said Cignal head coach Dexter Clamor. “So sabi ko lang, dapat ‘yun ‘yung paghugutan namin ng motivation coming to this game.
“Hindi rin naging maganda ‘yung performance namin ngayon, marami pa ring kailangan idagdag, kailangan i-polish. ‘Yun lang naman eh, it’s really more on polishing our system.”
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Fielding a different set of starters, the Super Spikers relied on a balanced offensive attack while also capitalizing on the Sealions’ 27 errors to complete the bounce-back win after just an hour and 16 minutes of play.
Jay Rack De La Noche led Cignal with 10 points, all from attacks, as the reigning champions regained their rhythm in the tournament organized by Sports Vision and supported by Alpha Insurance, Premiere EMS, Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, and Arena Plus.
Fil-Am spiker Jared Schnake contributed six points and 14 excellent receptions in his first start, while team captain JP Bugaoan and Lloyd Josafat added six apiece. Steven Rotter and Louie Ramirez chipped in five points each.
Cignal will look to sustain its momentum when it faces Far Eastern University-DN Steel on Friday at 6:00 PM at the same venue.
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PGJC-Navy, meanwhile, suffered its fourth straight loss to open the tournament. It found a bright spot as top spiker Joeven Dela Vega delivered his best outing since returning from a lung ordeal, finishing with a game-high 13 points.
Team captain Greg Dolor tallied eight points and 12 excellent receptions, while Anfernee Curamen added five despite playing only in the final set.
The Sealions will aim to finally break through the win column when they take on Savouge on Sunday at 1:00 PM at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
All games are aired live on One Sports and One Sports+, and available via the Pilipinas Live app with video-on-demand options. Matches are also streamed on spikersturf.ph.
