Super Spikers turn back Foxies for first win in round-robin semis

Games Tuesday

(Mall of Asia Arena)

4 p.m. - Farm Fresh vs PLDT

6:30 p.m. - Cignal vs Creamline

MANILA, Philippines -- Cignal woke up from an opening-set stupor and dominated the rest and Farm Fresh, 23-25, 25-14, 25-11, 25-12, on Saturday to inch closer to the PVL All-Filipino Conference finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.

All the Super Spikers needed was to turn on the right switch in turning things around after a sputtering start. And it just happened to come in the second set when everything just fell into place as Cignal earned its first win in the single-round robin semifinals.

“We just adjusted and we looked at finding other ways to score, not just all power,” said Cignal spiker Erika Santos, who led all hitters with 21 points, including 20 off kills.

The Manny V. Pangilinan franchise would need another win to clinch at least a playoff for a place in the best-of-three finals unfurling April 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It tackles Creamline next Tuesday and sibling rival PLDT Thursday at the same Pasay venue.

Of course, a sweep would catapult Cignal to the finals for the third time in club history after making it that far in the 2022 Reinforced Conference and 2024 Invitational.

There, the Super Spikers would have a shot at a breakthrough crown since joining the league five years ago.

But Santos, last year’s PVL on Tour MVP, is taking it a game at a time.

“We will prepare for Creamline first,” she said.

Vanie Gandler chipped in 18 hits while Tin Tiamzon had 11 in a duel where Cignal also rode on its exceptional defense to clip the Fram Fresh spikers’ wings, including those of Trisha Tubu, who just couldn’t get things going and was held to just 13 points.