Cignal, with Bryan Bagunas back in the roster, drubbed Maverick, 25-20, 25-9, 25-12, to complete yet another sweep of the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference eliminations at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Friday afternoon.
Bagunas dished out a 10-point performance in two sets, marking his return after missing the HD Spikers’ last two matches due to prior commitments with his club team in Taiwan.
The lopsided victory was Cigna’s eighth straight, underscoring their dominance in the elimination phase, a feat they’ve achieved five times previously in the 2016 Open, the 2019 Open, the 2023 Open, and then the 2023 Invitational.
“Last game namin more on second six yung naglaro medyo hindi maganda yung performance ngayon pinabawi ko sila and they were able to perform better than last game namin,” said Cignal head coach Dexter Clamor, referring to the sub-par performances of their second-stringers against the VNS-Nasty Griffins the last time out
“Magandang motivation ito for us and yung momentum namin going to semis medyo mataas yung morale namin pero pagdating sa semis back to zero lahat, yung 8-0 magiging useless kung hindi kami magpeperform,” he added.
The straight-set win was also a much-needed turnaround for Cignal, which had gone the distance in its last four matches, needing five sets against Criss Cross, D’Navigators, and the Griffins.
After a tight first set, the HD Spikers unleashed their full force in the next two, wrapping up the match in one hour and 19 minutes.
Mark Calado top-scored for Cignal with 13 points built on 11 attacks while Lloyd Josafat added nine points, also in two sets.
The troika of Wendel Miguel, JP Bugaoan, and Alfred Valbuena also delivered six points apiece for the HD Spikers.
Razzel Palisoc paced the Hard Hitters with eight points while Jerome Cordez chipped in six markers as they absorbed their sixth loss against a lone win.
