By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Cignal HD Spikers pulled off a lopsided victory over the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, 25-18, 25-21, 25-16, in the ongoing Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference on July 18, 2024, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Despite missing the services of Vanie Gandler and Dawn Macandili-Catindig due to their duties with the Alas Pilipinas women’s national volleyball team, the HD Spikers weren’t bothered and continued to rely on their balanced offensive attack.
From the get-go, Cignal immediately caught fire with their crosscourt attacks as import MJ Perez pummeled the Choco Mucho frontline.
Without Cherry Nunag, Choco Mucho’s main middle blocker who was also called up by Alas Pilipinas, the Flying Titans struggled to cover their defensive zone and allowed Cignal to pile up their spiking kills.
Choco Mucho also badly missed the offensive prowess of Sisi Rondina, who together with Nunag, Gandler, and Catindig, is training with the national team.
Aside from Perez’s attacking display, Cignal’s newly acquired Judith Abil also stepped up in the bright lights after taking the place of Macandili as the team’s new libero.
Abil, who is originally an outside hitter, accepted a huge role switch to become the team’s new libero and dazzled in her debut after tallying 15 excellent digs and eight excellent receptions.
The sneaky libero turned heads after providing the much-needed recovery balls coming from several heavy hits from Choco Mucho’s offensive attacks.
“I’m so proud sa team namin kasi talagang inall out nila yung game and inangat talaga nila yung level ng game namin,” said Cignal’s head coach Shaq Delos Santos after the huge win.
Spearheading the Cignal attack was Perez who top-scored all players with 22 big points built from 19 successful attacks to go alongside eight excellent receptions.
On the other hand, Choco Mucho received 13 points and 10 excellent receptions from their reinforcement, Zoi Faki, while the debuting Dindin Santiago-Manabat had eight markers.
The HD Spikers will look to maintain their momentum on July 23, 2024, as they take on the revamped Zus Coffee squad while Choco Mucho aims to bounce back against the Akari Chargers on the same day.
