Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—The odds were stacked against Cignal in Game 1 of the Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Conference Finals against F2 Logistics.
For starters, the HD Spikers were drained
after playing in a pair of five-set matches against top seed Petron in the semifinals and went into the first game of the finals with just a day of preparation.
The Cargo Movers, meanwhile, had three days in between their semis victory against Foton and the first game of the championship series to rest and prepare and that allowed them to take the series opener in five sets, 25-22, 26-24, 18-25, 17-25, 15-8.
Despite Cignal’s loss, Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga were impressed with how their team fared considering the things they had to endure.
“It was a good and close fight. We had just one day of preparation and for us that’s not enough but we were able to push the match to five sets,” said Daquis in Filipino. “We didn’t win but the lessons that we learned today we will bring it to Game 2.”
Gonzaga, who’s also played in another five-set match with Pacifictown-Army in the Premier Volleyball League in the middle of the PSL semifinals, added that Game 2 would be different since they have a one-day rest before practicing for Tuesday’s match.
“We have rest now because what happened is the games were continuous but that’s not an excuse for us,” said Gonzaga. “We had lapses so we’ll look at it on Monday.”
Gonzaga finished with 12 points for the HD Spikers while Daquis, a candidate for one of the Best Outside Spikers award, was limited to six points due to a nagging pain in her legs.
Daquis didn’t play in the third and fourth sets, the frames the HD Spikers won before coming in as a substitute in the fifth.
Holding the fort for Daquis was opposite spiker Mylene Paat, who had nine points in the last three sets but being the same position as Gonzaga brought a different problem to Cignal in the fifth set.
F2 took an early 3-0 lead in the final frame and that was enough foundation for the Cargo Movers to claim the match.
“When Ate Rachel was gone, I felt that I needed her because I’m used to always playing with her, although credit to Janine (Navarro) and Mylene for hanging in there,” said Gonzaga.
“We just had lapses in the fifth because Mylene and I weren’t that fluid with each other because I’m used to Ate Rachel switching with me quickly in plays and that was when F2 took a 3-0 lead,” added Gonzaga.