Cignal rolled to its second-straight win after pummeling Army-Katinko, 25-15, 25-14, 25-19, in the 2022 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena, Saturday.
The HD Spikers assumed the top spot at 2-0, while the Troopers slipped to their second consecutive defeat at 0-2.
“Lahat nagperform nang maayos compared doon sa last game namin against Santa Rosa,” said Cignal head coach Dexter Clamor. “I think ang advantage namin dito sa Army ay prior to this, nagkaroon kami ng tuneup games against them.”
Ahead by just two in the first set, the HD Spikers went on a 17-9 blast for the early advantage, 25-15.
Cignal’s wing spikers Marck Espejo and Alfred Valbuena then joined hands for an 11-4 closing bomb in the second frame, 25-14.
With the HD Spikers leading by seven in the third, 22-15, Army-Katinko closed the gap to just four after a 4-1 spurt, but a Troopers’ error and a Wendel Miguel hit gave Cignal the win, 25-19.
Espejo led Cignal’s balanced offense with 12 points on eight attacks and two blocks, while JP Bugaoan also delivered four blocks to finish with nine points.
Captain Ysay Marasigan supplied eight points, while Valbuena had seven to lead the second-stringers.
The HD Spikers dominated the blocking and service departments, 10-0 and 5-0, respectively.
Nobody reached double digits for Army-Katinko with PJ Rojas and Benjaylo Labide scoring nine apiece.
Both squads will return to action on Thursday.
Cignal will look for three in a row against VNS-One Alicia at 2:30 pm, while Army-Katinko will face Philippine Navy at 5:30 pm.
