Defending champion Cignal hardly broke a sweat, dispatching RichMarc Sports 3B in straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, 25-16, for its second consecutive win in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Jau Umandal once again led the attack for the HD Spikers, scoring 12 points on 12 attacks despite playing only in the first two sets of the one-hour, 14-minute encounter to help his squad go 2-0 in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
“Hindi ko masasabi na ‘yun ‘yung best nila kasi I know for sure na meron pa silang mas maipapakita pa, may mas mailalabas pa,” said Cignal head coach Dexter Clamor.
With the HD Spikers’ second stringers starting in the third frame, the Elite Spikers managed to keep it close early, forcing an 11-all deadlock before Cignal went on a 6-1 run that placed a five-point, 17-12 cushion.
Both sides traded hits before Cian Silang, Madz Gampong, and Nas Gwaza starred in a 5-0 run to pull away for good. Silang committed a service error before Gwaza closed things up with a cross-court hit.
“Ganun naman lagi, dapat lagi silang ready. Ganun dapat, kapag hinugot ka ng coach dapat mag-perform ka and ipakita mo yung best mo,” added Clamor.
Mark Calado and Gampong added eight points apiece in the victory for Cignal while Giles Torres added six markers.
The HD Spikers will try to make it three wins in a row against Savouge Aesthetics on Wednesday, 6:00 p.m. at the Philsports Arena.
On the other hand, Kernel Ipulan paced RichMarc with nine points while Kurl Rosete had seven markers in their second consecutive loss in as many games.
RichMarc Sports 3B will try to get back to the win column and face Criss Cross on Sunday, 6:00 p.m. at the Paco Arena.
