Fearsome Twosome

Wingers Erika Santos and Vanie Gandler delivered the goods as Cignal zoomed past Choco Mucho, 25-20, 16-25, 25-19, 25-18, for its second straight win and the solo lead in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The Super Spikers did not back down in a firefight against their crowd-darling rivals and silenced the predominantly Choco Mucho crowd with a convincing victory in a duel that lasted two hours and 10 minutes.

Santos posted 18 points anchored on 14 attacks, two aces and a pair of kill blocks to lead Cignal, which swept Galeries Tower last Saturday in a dominating display of power last Saturday.

Not to be outdone, Alas Pilipinas standout Gandler filled the stats sheet with 16 points she collected from 15 spikes and a service winner while Jackie Acuna added 13 markers including five kill blocks for the Super Spikers.

“Of course, very happy and proud with the effort shown by the team,” Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos said.

“As Erika (Santos) would always say, it’s all about hard work. She and Vanie (Gandler), showed great effort. They’re stepping up a notch with their performance.”

Setter Gel Cayuna distributed the ball very well, coming up with 23 excellent sets that the Super Spikers converted into 52 attack points.

However, it was the Super Spikers net defense that frustrated the volume attacking Flying Titans. Cignal scored 12 kill blocks with Rose Doria-Aquino scoring half of her eight points from denials.

The Super Spikers also punished Choco Mucho’s spotty reception with five aces.

After surrendering the second set, the Super Spikers needed to break free midway through the third frame, shattering a 15-15 deadlock with a 10-4 closing run.

An 8-4 start in the fourth frame gave Cignal the separation to cushion any resistance from the Flying Titans.

Sisi Rondiba scored 19 of her 20 points on kills and added 16 excellent receptions while Eya Laure added 11 markers, 15 receptions and eight digs for Choco Mucho, which slipped to a 1-1 slate.

Lorraine Pecana had 12 markers while Dindin Santiago-Manabat got 10 points for the Flying Titans.