Cignal demolishes Nxled
Vanie Gandler brings in the goods in Cignal’s straight sets win over Nxled to remain undefeated in four starts in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Photograph Courtesy of PVL
Daily TribuneVanie Gandler brings in the goods in Cignal’s straight sets win over Nxled to remain undefeated in four starts in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Photograph Courtesy of PVL
Cignal pulled through a hard-fought and power outage-delayed third set to complete a 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 sweep of luckless Nxled and stay unbeaten in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Saturday night at the jampacked Minglanilla Sports Complex in Cebu.
Not even a 20-minute stoppage of action could distract the HD Spikers from steamrolling to their fourth straight win in as many games for the solo lead.
Open spiker Vanie Gandler, who drew the loudest cheers from the volleyball-loving Cebuanos, filled the stats sheet with impressive numbers to lead Cignal. She finished with 13 points coming from nine kills, three kill blocks and an ace while adding six digs for an all-around performance.
“I’m really happy with my team. It’s really a team effort. We were able to survive the distractions that happened. So I’m really proud,” Gandler said.
Ces Molina added 10 points, all off spikes including the match-clinching attack that broke through the Chameleons’ two-man block.
Cignal outworked Nxled in the closing stretch of the last two sets after dominating the opening frame.
A six to seven-minute power interruption halted the hotly-contested third set with the HD Spikers up, 5-4. The Chameleons took advantage of the lull and came back aggressive to take a 13-10 lead.
Cignal recovered and reclaimed the driver’s seat, 19-16, only for Nxled to knot it at 20. A string of miscues by the Chameleons gave the HD Spikers a three-point lead before Ishie Laolongisip took Cignal at match point, 24-21.
Nxled saved two match points before Molina called it a night.
“Happy that we got the win but then again our performance, for us especially the players, after the game they told me that they’ll bounce back in the next games. They’re not satisfied with their performance,” Cignal coach Shaq delos Santos said.
“Credit to Nxled. They had a hell of a performance with their floor defense and attacks. Luckily, we got the win. We worked hard for this but there are still lapses that we need to address.”
The Chameleons fell to 0-4 despite the game-high 18 points of Chiara Permentilla, who also had six digs.
Lucille Almonte added 11 markers while Lycha Ebon chipped in 10 points for Nxled.