Cignal trips RC, gains Liga semis

Games Tuesday (Cuneta Astrodome)

4 p.m. – Foton vs Meralco

6 p.m. – RC Cola-Air Force vs Philips Gold

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – Cignal finally regained its full strength and clobbered RC Cola-Air Force, 25-19, 20-25, 25-10, 25-19, to formalize its entry to the semifinals of the 2015 Philippine Superliga (PSL) women’s volleyball tournament  before an overflow crowd yesterday at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center.

After slowing down in the past couple of games, the HD Spikers were again relentless as they pounced on the sluggish Raiders in the last two sets to seal the victory.

Also bouncing back was Philips Gold, which upended Meralco, 25-12, 26-24, 25-19 in the first game.

Alexis Olgard and Myla Pablo took turns in peppering the defense with hot smashes while Bojana Todorovic took care of backline defense to help the Lady Slammers claim their fifth win in seven games and move a win closer to the semis.

Meralco formally kissed its championship hope goodbye with its seventh consecutive  setback. Its experience, however, will be very valuable as the nucleus of the Power Spikers will be campaigning for De La Salle University in the UAAP wars this January.  

The 6-foot-5 Olgard played dominantly in the middle position as she delivered 10 kills and five blocks to finish with 16 points, while Pablo had 13 markers for the Lady Slammers, whose high-octane assaults completely blacked out the defense of Meralco.

Todorovic finished with only nine points, but her team-high 11 digs left the Meralco spikers frustrated at the attack zone.

“It was a total team effort,” said Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente, lauding his wards’ rebound following a dismal four-set loss to Foton last Thursday.

But the day belonged to the HD Spikers.

With American imports Ariel Usher and Amanda Anderson unleashing their firepower, Cignal was unstoppable in the last two sets.

Usher, the former University of Portland star, registered 20 kills for 22 points and Anderson had  10 kills and four aces to finish with 15 points for the HD Spikers, who joined reigning champion Petron on top of the team standings with a 6-2 win-loss mark.

The Raiders have to pull off a miracle and win their last three matches to advance to the next round.

The tournament is presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mueller and Mikasa as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.