Mission accomplished as Cignal seals finals seat

Cignal formalized it’s entry to the finals after beating Creamline, 25-13, 13-25, 25-16, 25-16, for a second straight victory in the round-robin semifinals of the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Vanie Gandler showed the way for the Super Spikers with a 24-point explosion as Cignal advanced to the best-of-three finals with still a game to spare in the Final Four.

The wing spiker scattered 22 spikes and two kill blocks while contributing 10 excellent receptions for the Super Spikers, who will close the semis on Thursday against eliminated sister team PLDT.

“We really just did our best to stay composed even when they got one set from us. And then we just kept telling each other, 'one point at a time, one point at a time' 'cause based on experience, we know how Creamline can really come back at anytime even if the score is super far,” Gandler said.

“They've done it many times, so we really did our best to bounce back from our mistakes and just really move forward.”

Erika Santos posted a double-double of 14 markers and 14 digs, Tin Tiamzon added 13 points and 10 excellent receptions while Rose Doria-Aquino got 10 markers for Cignal, which made its return to the championship after a runner-up finish in the 2024 Invitational Conference.

Veteran setter Gel Cayuna dished out 29 excellent sets to help the Super Spikers, who now hold a 2-1 head-to-head lead over Creamline in the season-ending tourney, convert 60 attack points.

After splitting the first two sets, Cignal recalibrated its game plan and played more cohesively to build early leads that the Cool Smashers failed to overcome.

The Super Spikers sealed the win with a successful floor touch challenge against Creamline setter Jia Morado-De Guzman.

With the win, Cignal pushed the Cool Smashers to a precarious spot in the race for the last finals spot.

Creamline dropped to a 1-1 slate tied with Farm Fresh, which made their end of semis meeting on Thursday a virtual do-or-die for a championship berth.

Bernadeth Pons scored 15 of her 17 points on kills and added nine digs for the Cool Smashers. Jema Galanza had 10 markers and De Guzman tallied 20 excellent sets in a lost cause.