MANILA, Philippines — Cignal outsteadied Cocolife in a tension-filled marathon showdown, 20-25, 25-13, 25-14, 24-26, 17-15, to claim its maiden win in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference Saturday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The HD Spikers saved two match points and racked up three unanswered points coming from clutch hits by Royse Tubino and skipper Rachel Anne Daquis and an attack error by Cocolife’s Justine Tiu to steal the victory in the five-setter that took two hours and eight minutes to settle.
Cignal improved to 1-1 after surviving the Asset Managers (0-2) in a highly charged finish that saw coaches and players constantly complaining against calls. Cocolife coach Moro Branislav was actually given a yellow card for protesting a call.
“Focus lang talaga sa game at wag intindihin ang mga ganon. Composure ang talagang kailangan,” said Mylene Paat, who led the victors with 15 attacks, one block and one ace.
Daquis, the newly named ambassador of the PSL, accounted for 12 markers and 18 digs and comebacking Tubino also scored 12 while Jheck Dionela had 31 digs and 15 receptions as the HD Spikers bounced back from their straight-set 16-25, 19-25, 19-25 loss to F2 Logistics on opening day.
Kalei Mau spearheaded the Asset Managers with 16 hits and four blocks while Gyra Barroga and Tiu chipped in 10 and 12, respectively. Denden Lazaro anchored the defense with 38 digs and 10 receptions.
“Dead tired. Both teams played so well tonight. Fans got their money’s worth,” Lazaro posted on Twitter even as she rued about the officiating.