Super Liga: Tubino sizzles as Cignal beats PLDT for first win in 5 tries

By: Celest Flores-Colina - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—Cignal finally got over the hump and notched its first win in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference by defeating PLDT 25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-17, Wednesday.

The HD Spikers leaned on the offensive explosion by NCAA finals MVP Honey Royse Tubino, who led all scorers with 26 points—all but one from kills.

Cignal, which lost its first four matches, missed a chance to win by straight sets but bounced back hard in the fourth set where it led by as many as 21-13.

Danika Gendrauli, who had 10 markers, punched in the game-winning hit.

“It’s great that we finally won. I believe that we have a good team but we’re just lacking in some areas, but today I really saw how the girls worked hard,” said head coach Sammie Acaylar.

The Perpetual Help mentor said that one source of the HD Spikers’ woes was the lack of an opener as most of his players were converted from middle spikers.

But even with a woeful record, Alaycar is confident that the win will spark something for Cignal with just a few more games left in the tournament.

“I told my players that if once we win, we can do it again. I have confidence in them,” he said.

The Power Attackers, meanwhile, ended they elimination round campaign on a sour note as they dropped to 2-4. They await for the results of the remaining matches to determine their fate.

Veterans Suzanne Roces and Louanne Latigay combined for 35 points for PLDT, which was doomed by its erratic reception all game.