Cignal continues to make noise, leads march to semifinals

Cignal’s bench whoops it up together with the crowd as fans are allowed back in the stands for the first time. —PVL PHOTO

Cignal HD’s flowing communication credited for its continuous success didn’t happen overnight. It’s something they had to learn and develop in training during the HD Spikers’ relentless preseason buildup.

“That’s a big adjustment for us,” Cignal’s Ces Molina said in Filipino. “They (coaches) want all of us to feel everyone’s presence on the court. To be noisy inside the court, to the point that we are yelling to each other.”

And they have been making noise, alright. Especially in the way they are playing.

The squad whose players were picked up from several clubs and now being reined in by a low-key setter marched into the semifinals after blasting BaliPure, 25-14, 25-9, 25-14, on Monday in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference.

Creamline needed an extra set to follow Cignal to the next round, scoring a 25-28, 25-14, 23-25, 25-29 win over Chery Tiggo in the second game.

Two other quarterfinals matches pitting Choco Mucho against PLDT and PatroGazz versus F2 are slated on Tuesday.

“I’m so proud of them. Our hardships in training are now bearing fruit,” said coach Shaq delos Santos after their fifth straight win of the season overall. “This [early end to quarterfinals] is good because we have time to recover and plan ahead in the semifinals.”

He didn’t say which team they prefer to take on in the best-of-three semis, but Cignal has already got the number of F2 Logistics which will have to beat PetroGazz twice to advance.

“We stick to our game plan and level up, knowing both teams (F2 and PetroGazz) both have quality players and experience,” said Delos Santos. “We need to raise the intensity of our training, because whoever we face will surely be tough.”

Gel Cayuna flicked 26 excellent sets to the HD Spikers’ top gunners. Molina finished with 12 points, Roselyn Doria had 11, Ria Meneses nine, Angeli Araneta eight and Rachel Anne Daquis had seven to highlight Cignal’s balanced offensive.

Cayuna, the underrated setter from Far Eastern University, also added three points.

The league transferred from Paco Arena to the bigger FilOil Flying V Arena as fans were once again allowed into the games, marking the first time it opened its doors since the pandemic struck two years ago.

And they were treated to the exploits of one of the league’s hottest teams as the HD Spikers overwhelmed the Water Defenders in attacks, 40-17. INQ