MANILA, November 22 ------ Cignal HD earned a share of the lead in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference with an impressive four-set victory against Chery Tiggo, Thursday afternoon at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. Dawn Macandili-Catindig was a rock on defense and Gel Cayuna spread the offense around to steer the HD Spikers to a 25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 25-21 triumph their second straight of the conference.
The result gives Cignal HD (2-0) a share of the early lead in the tournament, along with PLDT and Akari. For the Crossovers, it's their first loss of the All-Filipino tournament after opening their campaign with a five-set win against the Capital1 Solar Spikers. Ces Molina had 13 points while Vanie Gandler and Ria Meneses had 12 points each for the HD Spikers. They had a 58-48 lead in kills against Chery Tiggo, with Cayuna credited with 20 excellent sets. Macandili-Catindig had 23 digs in a Player of the Match performance. "We know na hindi pa rin 'yun 'yung gusto naming mangyari but ang good thing ay na-encounter namin 'yung ganung situation, nakaka-recover kami and nakaka-survive kami," said Cignal coach Shaq delos Santos.
The match looked headed for a deciding frame when Chery Tiggo surged to a 10-4 lead in the fourth frame behind a series of hits from May Rhose Dapol. But Judith Abil helped turn things around for Cignal, as the Crossovers struggled to handle her serves. With Abil at the line, the HD Spikers won seven straight rallies to take an 11-10 advantage and set the stage for a back-and-forth finish. Back-to-back hits by Dapol knotted the count at 20, but off a timeout, Gandler scored off a crosscourt hit and Abil nailed yet another ace to give the HD Spikers the lead for good. Two consecutive attacks by Meneses at the middle put Cignal HD at match point, 24-21, and an unforced error by Chery Tiggo ended the match. "Siguro 'yun talaga yung pina-practice namin sa training, na i-embrace ang pressure ang game. Kapag dikdikan, close game talaga, kailangan namin matuto kung paano tapusin ang set na pabor sa amin," Macandili-Catindig said after the game.
Ara Galang had 13 points while Princess Robles and Seth Rodriguez each contributed 12 markers for the Crossovers, who had 10 kill blocks as a team but also gave up 10 aces -- five to Cayuna alone. After failing to complete a comeback in the opener, Chery Tiggo showed they would not roll over easily as they recovered from a slow start in Set 2. Galang and Robles came alive to push them ahead, 20-16, and the Crossovers' net defense frustrated Cignal HD's attack, eventually helping them equalize the match. Unfortunately for Chery Tiggo, they could not sustain that momentum. They gave up four straight points to open Set 3 -- three from Cayuna's aces and were unable to recover. The HD Spikers then gave them a dose of their own medicine in Set 4, when they erased a seemingly comfortable lead to hand the Crossovers their first defeat.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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