HD Spikers inch closer to semis, whip Chameleons

4 p.m. – Choco Mucho vs Gerflor

6 p.m. – Creamline vs Chery Tiggo

Cignal all but secured one of the last two semifinal berths in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference as it blasted Nxled, 25-17, 25-14, 25-14, on superior hitting and blocking at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Saturday.

Vanie Gandler pumped in nine of her 12 points in the opening frame, setting the tone for the veteran-laden HD Spikers’ dominance over the young Chameleons following their crushing five-set defeat to the Chery Tiggo Crossovers last Tuesday.

“Mahirap kasi yung talo namin last game. So ang reminder ng coaching staff (after the loss) is mag-move forward kami kasi may last two games pa kami,” said Jove Gonzaga, who backed Gandler’s strong offensive game with nine hits and three blocks with 10 excellent digs to bag the best player of the game honors

“Kailangan namin ipanalo para may baon kaming confidence and yung pride namin pagdating sa semis. Ang training talaga namin puspusan talaga,” added the seasoned Ilongga lefty.

The victory was Cignal’s seventh against three setbacks. But while the HD Spikers stayed at fourth, they are cinch to nail the target eighth win in the elims with winless Gerflor Defenders, without ruling out a reversal, as their last elims opponent on Dec. 5.

“We thank the Lord for this win, and the management, too,” said Cignal coach Shaq delos Santos. “Of course, sa team namin kasi alam ko kung gaano nila pinaghirapan yung naging training namin. Good thing nabawi namin, isa na lang and kailangan namin para sure na kami sa semis.”

Creamline and sister team Choco Mucho have booked the first two slots in post-elims play of the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision with third-running Chery Tiggo looking to nail the other Final Four spot against ousted F2 Logistics at presstime.

Gonzaga and Rose Doria also scored 12 points each while Ces Molina added 11 markers to underscore the HD Spikers’ power that led to a 43-24 romp in spikes.

They also dominated the net, 9-2, with Gonzaga producing three blocks and playmaker Gel Cayuna adding two for a four-point output while putting up a 14-excellent set showing in their 73-minute victory.

Gonzaga also commended Cayuna’s superb game, saying: “Ike-credit ko din si Gel (Cayuna) kasi ang ganda ng ball distribution niya. Ang ganda ng mga sets niya sakin.”

Counterpart Kamille Cal finished with nine excellent sets but Nxled’s hitters failed to execute their shots, overshooting their target majority of their chances.

Lycha Ebon, May Mauna and Camille Victoria each scored six points, while Jho Maraguinot and Krich Macaslang added five and four points, respectively, for the Chameleons, who trailed from start to finish to drop to 3-7 (win-loss).

They scored three straight points in the third to cut Cignal’s deficit to 14-21 but the HD Spikers countered with their own four-point binge to wrap up the set and the match with Molina scoring on a power tip that hit the hands of Cal and went out of bounds.