KingWhale disconnects Cignal to complete PVL semis sweep

MANILA, Philippines — KingWhale Taipei completed a sweep of the local clubs in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference semifinals after dumping the Cignal HD Spikers, 25-18, 15-25, 25-21, 25-22, in their final semis match at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan on Saturday.

Already set for a title clash with the Creamline Cool Smashers on Sunday, KingWhale has all the momentum with an immaculate 4-0 record heading into the winner-take-all final.

The Taiwanese spikers needed to bounce back from a lopsided 15-25 second set loss that tied the match 1-all for the HD Spikers.

But KingWhale remaind resilient, especially in the third salvo where they fought back from a 11-16 deficit.

Despite an Angeli Araneta regalo giving Cignal the 21-20 advantage late, KingWhale uncorked a 5-0 run to close out the set and return to the 2-1 advantage.

In the fourth frame, it was a tit-for-tat affair. But it was the HD Spikers who were stuck playing catch up for most of the set.

Late in the set, errors plagued the HD Spikers as KingWhale took a four-point cushion, 21-17.

It proved enough to keep Cignal at bay as KingWhale avoided the fifth set.

Germina Jacobs paced KingWhale with 19 points in the victory.

They play for all the marbles against Creamline Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena. Cignal faces sister team PLDT for the bronze medal match.