Cignal<\/a> looked poised to cruise after seizing a 23-18 lead on a well-placed Heather Guino-o shot to Zone 1. But Creamline, banking on its late-game pedigree, clawed back with three straight points. A service error from Kyle Negrito handed Cignal match point at 24-21 \u2013 only for the HD Spikers to wobble.<\/p>\nBack-to-back miscues by Erika Santos and a Michele Gumabao crosscourt attack tied the set at 24.<\/p>\n
Still, Cignal refused to fold as Guino-o delivered an off-the-block hit, but Gumabao countered with a crosscourt kill and Santos restored order with a smart attack before Sheena Toring came up with a clutch block, knotting it anew at 26.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Ishie Lalongisip emerged as the unlikeliest hero in the most crucial of moments. Denied on her first match-point attempt, she got a second chance when setter Gel Cayuna went back to her.<\/p>\n
This time, Lalongisip delivered \u2013 twice \u2013 her last powerful hit bouncing off the Creamline defense and caroming out-of-bounds for the match-clincher.<\/p>\n
It was Cignal\u2019s first win over Creamline since the 2022 Reinforced Conference semifinals and marked the Cool Smashers\u2019 first straight-sets loss since a March 16 setback to Chery Tiggo.<\/p>\n
Lalongisip finished with 15 points, including the final two hammers that sealed the match. She also sparkled on defense with seven excellent digs and 10 receptions.<\/p>\n
Santos, a prized off-season acquisition, continued to prove her worth with an 18-point explosion, following up her 14- and 11-point efforts against Akari and Capital1, respectively. Her consistent performance has underscored her growing value to a team still reeling from a ninth-place finish in the last All-Filipino Conference \u2013 a slump largely attributed to the abrupt departure of two key players.<\/p>\n
But she nearly unraveled late in Set 3 after two costly hitting errors. But her earlier impact \u2013 and eventual redemption \u2013 reflected the team\u2019s growth and grit.<\/p>\n
Cayuna, later named Best Player of the Game, dished out 22 excellent sets and chipped in five points, outclassing Creamline\u2019s Negrito, who finished with just 11 excellent sets.<\/p>\n
The one-hour, 43-minute victory vaulted Cignal to the solo lead in Pool B at 3-0, leaving Creamline trailing at 2-1. It also extended the team\u2019s early hot streak following straight-set wins over Akari and Capital1 \u2013 and served notice of its serious bid to rise from a forgettable ninth-place finish in the last All-Filipino Conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe studied our opponents\u2019 weaknesses and stuck to where we had the advantage,\u201d said Cayuna. \u201cIt was all about execution and staying composed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roselyn Doria-Aquino tallied 10 points, Tin Tiamzon added four, while rookie Erin Pangilinan chipped in three in a spirited Set 3 performance. Libero Buding Duremdes anchored the floor defense with 16 excellent digs for the HD Spikers, who dominated the net with eight blocks, six more than the Cool Smashers.<\/p>\n
For Creamline, Gumabao led with 11 points, while Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza combined for 17. But the Cool Smashers, despite their third-set resurgence, couldn’t match Cignal\u2019s resolve when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
From a turbulent offseason to a roaring 3-0 start, Cignal proved it\u2019s no longer just out to compete \u2013 but to conquer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cignal’s defense, both at the net and on the floor, shone as bright as its emerging offensive firepower as the HD Spikers dealt the Creamline Cool Smashers a stinging defeat that may linger for a while, hacking out a gutsy 25-22, 25-18, 28-26 victory in the PVL On Tour at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[320,236,54,313],"class_list":["post-3314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-alyssa-valdez","tag-cignal-hd-spikers","tag-creamline-cool-smashers","tag-pvl-on-tour"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3317,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions\/3317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}