Once upon a time, MJ Perez and Dawn Catindig were hand in hand, facing off against head coach Shaq Delos Santos, Ces Molina, and Riri Meneses in a high-stakes finals showdown.
Seven years later, these five will reunite – now focused on dismantling one of the most dominant dynasties in Philippine volleyball history.
“It’s a huge opportunity now that we have a second chance to face Creamline. We are excited for tomorrow, of course,” said Perez following the HD Spikers’ dramatic five-set victory over Kurashiki on Wednesday night.
“It has been hard, but we are here and we worked hard to get here, so we will fight for it,” she added.
Back in 2017, F2 Logistics, featuring Perez and Catindig, battled against Petron – which boasted Delos Santos, Molina, and Meneses.
The two teams met in the best-of-three finale of the PSL Grand Prix Conference.
The Blaze Boosters won the series opener with a sweep, but the Cargo Movers came back to clinch the championship in the subsequent games.
While this memory remains cherished for Perez and Catindig, their journey is far from over.
Now, standing on the brink of securing another championship, they have Delos Santos and several former rivals by their side, ready to tackle the next challenge.
“Siguro ‘yung championship experience namin ni MJ and ni coach Shaq, dadalhin namin ‘yun bukas para ma-share sa team at mai-angat pa ‘yung team para tuloy-tuloy kami,” said Macandili, who missed a significant portion of the season due to her duties with Alas Pilipinas.
Perez echoed similar sentiments: “I feel so confident when I’m with Dawn on the court. Back when we won the championship with F2 Logistics, it was a great experience. Now, we’ll combine all the powers.”
Moreover, the HD Spikers feel motivated by their recent heart-breaking semifinal defeat to Creamline in the Reinforced Conference, which ended their title hopes.
Macandili – who missed that tournament – is determined to seize this opportunity and help Cignal clinch its first-ever championship.
“Ako, dahil nga andito na kami, we have a chance to fight with Cignal in this conference, talagang iga-grab na namin ‘yung opportunity,” Macandili vowed.
“‘Di namin bibitawan ‘to.”
