Fatigue aside, Jau Umandal was again a man on a mission as he steered Cignal to its second straight five-set victory in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.

It took everything and more for Cignal to outlast star-studded newcomer Criss Cross in five grueling sets through the unassailable scoring exploits of newly minted Taiwanese pro league champion Bryan Bagunas.

But as Bagunas flew back to Taiwan to fulfill prior commitments with WinStreak, Umandal took flight just three days later and proved there’s room in the team for more than one hard-hitting hotshot, extending the HD Spikers’ unbeaten run to six.

The 2023 Open Conference Most Valuable Player fired a conference-best 36 points on 32 attacks, three blocks, and one ace paired with ten excellent receptions and six digs in a late 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 15-7 escape over D’Navigators.

Umandal’s masterful charge which saw the defending champions book their semis ticket earned him a unanimous Spikers’ Turf Player of the Week citation for the period of 17 to 21 April.

“I didn’t expect that it would be that high. We’re not winning because of me, but because of the entire team. So I wasn’t expecting that I would reach 36 points. I just wanted to help,” said Umandal, who bested Criss Cross’ Jude Garcia, Savouge’s John Diwa and VNS-Nasty’s Kenneth Culabat for the weekly nod.

Following back-to-back five-set triumphs in a span of 72 hours, Umandal refused to be knocked over easily and made sure he’d have more than enough left in the tank when the call of duty arrived.

“We were really tired against Criss Cross. I think we won because we managed to overcome that fatigue and pressure that we had as a team,” Umandal said.

Umandal and the HD Spikers will bat for their seventh straight victory as they duke it out with VNS-Nasty on 24 April at the Paco Arena.