By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Cignal fought back a determined ZUS Coffee side with a 25-18, 29-27, 21-25, 25-22 victory on Tuesday, July 23, in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The HD Spikers struggled with finding their old form, falling into a maze of errors before keeping their composure in the end game to post their second straight win in Pool B.
Import MJ Perez stepped up for Cignal with an all-around game of 30 points, including back-to-back hits that sealed their victory.
The Venezuelan spiker highlighted her performance with 26 kills, three aces and one block.
Perez admitted they didn’t play their best against the Thunderbelles.
“There were a lot of ups and downs with our performance, but our coaches made some changes and I’m just glad we were able to pull it off,” said Perez, who scored 22 points in their first games against the fancied Choco Mucho Flying Titans.
“We have to keep working on our consistency, because it’s something that we missed today,” she added.
Ces Molina also stepped up for the HD Spikers with 16 points built on 10 attacks, while Jacqueline Acuna and Riri Meneses chipped in 11 points apiece.
Cignal’s win overshadowed the efforts of Asaka Tamaru for ZUS Coffee as the Japanese import finished with 23 points in a losing cause.
Gayle Pascual and Michelle Gamit also finished with 14 and 13 points for the Thunderbelles.
After dropping the third set, the HD Spikers tried to get the momentum by leading the fourth frame at 18-13.
But the Thunderbelles were persistent, keeping the game close at 23-22 behind the efforts of Ypril Tapia, Michelle Gamit and Japanese import Asaka Tamaru.
It turned out to be ZUS Coffee’s last stand, though, as Perez took charge for Cignal.
