Cignal HD Spikers’ Ces Molina in the PVL. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Ces Molina is making it her goal to be a consistent 20-point scorer for the Cignal HD Spikers who look to return to the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) finals this 2024 season starting in February.
After winning her first-ever Most Valuable Player award in the Invitational Conference and leading Cignal to two bronze medals out of the three tournaments last year, expect Molina to continue showing her scoring prowess for the HD Spikers, who last reached the PVL finals two years ago in the Reinforced Conference.
“My goal every game is to produce at least 20 points because I think it will be a big help for the team to contribute 20 points per game,” Molina told reporters in Filipino on Monday at GameVille Mandaluyong.
“There will be a lot of time and chance to win the MVP again and I’m not thinking about that. My goal is to reach the championship again because it’s been a long time [since we made it],” she added.
READ: PVL: Ces Molina’s MVP run serves as inspiration for Cignal HD Spikers
The star outside spiker, the No.6 scorer in the second All-Filipino Conference with 172 points built on 153 kills, 14 blocks, and five aces, is determined to help the HD Spikers win their maiden PVL title this year as they have won seven bronze medals and earned one silver since joining the pros in 2021.
“This is my third year with Cignal and my ultimate goal until now is to reach the finals again and win the championship,” said Molina, who won a couple of championships with Delos Santos for the Petron Blaze Spikers in the defunct Philippine Superliga.
“Hopefully, the addition of Dawn Macandili-Catindig and Jovelyn Fernandez will help us get the gold because we all know that coach Shaq [Delos Santos] really wants to win the championship and he’s used to winning before. We want to experience a championship with Cignal.”
The 29-year-old hitter is putting a premium on her health this season for her to fulfill her duty as a go-to scorer and leader for Cignal, which started its ball training last week after Delos Santos arrived from his trip to Japan, where he learned a lot of things from Kurashiki Ablaze coach Hideo Suzuki.
Molina believes that keeping their core including best setter Gel Cayuna, Vanie Gandler, and Ria Meneses reinforced with newcomers Catindig and Fernandez will be an edge for the HD Spikers this season.
“It will be an advantage because we already know each other and even if we have new players, it won’t be hard for coach Shaq to instill his system,” she said.
“We’re happy to have Dawn because our defense last conference didn’t work even if we had three liberos. We don’t have a problem with our offense. But we know how Dawn works inside the court, she was my teammate in the national team. And with Jheck (Dionela), they will work together this conference, their defense will make it easier for us to execute a good offense.”