Cignal HD Spikers’ Vanie Gandler in the PNVF Champions League. –PNVF PHOTO
Facing a young, tough-as-nails foe, Cignal showed what it is made of and provided a glimpse of what it is capable of doing in the coming Premier Volleyball League season.
The HD Spikers swept their four Philippine National Volleyball Federation Champions League elimination assignments and will be going into the semifinals with high morale—apart from gaining knowledge on what needs to be addressed heading into the tournament that matters most.
“I am very thankful because we survived, especially our last game,” coach Shaq delos Santos said in assessing their campaign thus far after Cignal fended off a hard-fighting College of St. Benilde side, 18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13, at Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday.
“To be honest, our four-day schedule was very tiring. It was grueling, but I feel proud of the team because they fought until the end and we got the game and the solo top spot,” Delos Santos added.
Dig deep
Benilde made the HD Spikers work for their final elimination victory, forcing them to dig deep in the marathon match.
Despite being pushed to the proverbial edge by Benilde, which sank to a respectable 1-2 standing considering that the Blazers are battling pros here, Delos Santos saw what his HD Spikers are capable of when facing a tough opponent.
“This is a good sign for us because we wanted to be here, where we are. We are much more inspired now going into our next journey like the semifinals,” he went on. “We need to work harder, most likely we will be facing [Benilde] once again, but right now we need to enjoy our win and think of the good things that happened.
“We will learn our lessons from playing in the eliminations, but we need to go all out in the semifinals.”
Cignal will await the fourth-seeded team, which it will face in the semifinals on Friday.
The combination of Ces Molina and Vanie Gandler carried Cignal to a strong finish. The HD Spikers captain had 19 points on 15 attacks while the young spiker finished with 12 points mostly on kills.
“We need to focus more on the team, what is lacking, what is needed and the most important thing is how to recover from playing four games in as many days,” Delos Santos said.
“The team’s maturity [is there]. We are studying what else we can learn and this game is such a huge help because I want this to be constructive for us,” he added.