In a compelling duel of comebacks, Cignal HD didn’t blink, battling back from two sets down then edging Choco Mucho in a thriller of a decider for a 24-26, 19-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-11 victory and the solo lead in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan yesterday.
The HD Spikers blew five set points in the opener and lost and stared at defeat after being blown off by the Flying Titans’ strong finishing kick in the next of a clash of opening day winners tipped to go down-to-the-wire.
But regroup the veteran HD Spikers did in the third frame and they sustained the momentum in the fourth before beating the young Flying Titans in a clash of nerves, poise and character.
Cignal also squandered a 4-1 lead in the decider and trailed at 5-6 on a Des Cheng hit and block. But the HD Spikers did what they do best – fight back as setter Gel Cayuna, Ces Molina, Roselyn Doria and Rachel Anne Daquis put their act together to push the team back at 13-11 then pounced on their rivals’ miscues to pound out the energy-sapping two-hour, 19-minute victory.
An exhausted Cheng dropped to the floor after pumping in a hit that ended a long furious rally that pulled Choco Mucho within, 8-9, in the fifth, highlighting the grueling encounter, the first five-setter in the three-playdate old mid-season offering of the league organized by Sports Vision.
“We’re thankful (to God) for giving us strength. I also thank the players and coaches (for this win. We fought really hard kahit pagod na lahat,” said Cignal coach Shaq delos Santos, who wasn’t around when his wards kicked off their campaign with a four-set win over Army in Saturday’s inaugurals.
“I told the players we still have the chance to bounce back and we need to stay focused,” said delos Santos.Five HD Spikers churned out double digit outputs to underscore the team’s balanced offensive sock with top gun Molina putting in a 17-hit game, Claudine Troncoso firing 13 points after missing their first match, Ria Meneses finishing with 12 hits and Doria and Daquis adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.“We prepared hard for this and we all agreed that we won’t give up. We stayed composed and that’s the key in the end,” said Molina.
Libero Fatima General also produced a solid floor defense that helped keep the ball in play in crucial stretches of the match and eventually save the HD Spikers, matching Daquis’ 18 digs. With two straight wins, Cignal moved ahead of the seven-team pack chasing the top four spots in a single round robin play with Taiwan’s King Whales and Kobe Shinwa from Japan joining the fray in the next round.
The Flying Titans slipped to 1-1 after a sweep of Chery Tiggo, also last Saturday, ruing the chance to wrap up the match in three or four and losing momentum of their big fightback in the fifth to grab the lead at 6-5.
The loss also put to naught Kat Tolentino’s fiery 31-point performance although she somewhat lost steam in the fifth, scoring just a block off Daquis that kept the Flying Titans within, 10-11.
But Doria banged in a power blast and Daquis capped her sterling game to give Cignal a three-point cushion before Tolentino’s wide hit and Isa Molde’s attack error after Cheng saved one match point at 11 paved the way for Cignal’s stirring victory.
Molde, who anchored the team’s come-from-behind win in the first set, and Cheng finished with 14 hits apiece while Aduke Ogunsanya added eight points and Cherry Nunag wound up with four hits.
