PVL: Cignal defeats Galeries Tower in five games

MJ Perez and the Cignal HD Spikers take on the Galeries Tower High Risers in the PVL Reinforcement League. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Cignal faced a tough defense from Galeries Tower but eventually advanced to the finals with a 23-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-14, 15-11 victory in the PVL Plus League at the Philippine Arena on Thursday.

MJ Perez played a big role, scoring 34 points on 31 carries and three blocks to help the HD Spikers to their sixth win in seven games.

“The good news is we won this game even though we know we haven’t played to our full potential. I mean we can still play better,” coach Shaquille De Los Santos said.

Schedule: 2024 PVL Enhanced Round 2

Cignal also had two players score in double figures, with Gel Cayuna having a strong 31, Ces Molina scoring 19 points and Riri Meneses adding 10. Cayuna and Jackie Acuna also chipped in with eight points each.

“I’m happy to get the win, but the game before was definitely challenging. It really tested our patience because we knew the Galeries were strong both offensively and defensively,” Cayuna said.

“That’s our challenge — figuring out how to match them and how to win,” she added.

But their defence was also active, with Perez frustrating the eliminated Highrisers attack with 16 brilliant catches, Molina with 12 brilliant saves and 14 catches, and Kayuna with 10 brilliant saves.

read: PVL: Cignal beats Farm Fresh to bounce back from first loss

For Galeries Tower, which has already missed the playoffs, Chuewulim Sutadta and Ysa Jimenez scored 19 and 18 points respectively from Renee Mabilangan’s 17-setter performance, but that did not diminish their importance.

The Highrisers’ strong offensive performance was aided by their excellent defence, with Alyssa Eroa in particular performing well with 26 excellent saves and 14 brilliant catches.

Sutata also had a bad performance, with 20 excellent saves and catches, although it was not enough to stop Galeries Tower’s seven-game losing streak.

Galeries Tower high-rise building Chuewulim Sutadta. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Till the deciding game, both the teams were looking to win the match but Cignal came out on top with a score of 10 to 5 as the HD Spikers relentlessly penetrated the Highrisers’ defence.

Graze Bombita did not give up, but Cignal stepped up its attack, with Perez and Meneses both scoring, 12-8. Dimdim Pacres scored first, and then Roselyn Doria tried a quick shot, but the ball flew out of the baseline.

Malzahn stopped Molina but Perez got a point back with a quick back-row shot, but Cayuna, not wanting to drag out the match that lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes, hit an ace after Parkres made a miscue on the ball.

“I think we played really well today because that’s part of the league, right? Sometimes we can win easily but sometimes we have to take on the challenge,” said Perez, whose next match is against underdogs Nxled.

“It’s good for our future. We react well in these situations and we win in the end,” she added.