Cignal unleashed its best effort in the deciding frame as it outlasted Generika, 22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 15-4, yesterday to pick up its first win in the 2016 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at The Arena in San Juan City.
The HD Spikers soared to a quick 10-1 lead courtesy of strong attack from Mylene Paat and Janine Marciano, and never looked back to bounce back from back-to-back losses and improve to 1-2.
Marciano fired 14 attacks and three aces to finish with 17 points for Cignal, which played without Puerto Rican reinforcement Lynda Morales in the last four sets.
Morales sprained her left ankle after landing on a teammate’s foot during the first frame.
The absence of Morales was a big blow after losing the first set, but the HD Spikers refused to give up.
“Lahat kami gumalaw, gumawa ng puntos kasi mahirap din nung nawala siya (Morales). Pero ginawa namin yung motivation para i-improve pa yung teamwork at communication namin sa loob,” said Marciano, a product of San Beda.
The win was crucial to Cignal coach Sammy Acaylar.
“We needed this win to take off,” said Acaylar.
Meanwhile, defending champion Foton leaned on its solid blocking late in the deciding set in besting tough Petron, 25-18, 23-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-13, to remain unbeaten.
Back-to-back blocks from Maika Ortiz and Jaja Santiago gave the Tornadoes the needed victory as they extended their winning streak to four in as many games.
Petron, for its part, absorbed its first loss after winning its first three matches to stay in second place.