CIGNAL’s post-Molina and Meneses era began with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 sweep of Galeries Tower in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena.
Newly-appointed team captain Dawn Macandili-Catindig set the tone for the HD Spikers with 19 digs and four receptions.
Cignal grabbed its share of the league lead with Petro Gazz at 5-1.
Now the face of Cignal’s offense, Vanie Gandler was the lone player to hit double figures for either teams with 17 points on 13 attacks, three aces and one block.
Gel Cayuna distributed 15 excellent sets to just five spikers and two blockers the HD Spikers fielded in the match.
Ysa Jimenez and setter-spiker Julia Coronel paced Galeries Tower’s second straight defeat with eight points each.
Undermanned yet still overpowered
Gandler’s role in powering Cignal’s offense has grown significantly as she enters her second year in the pros.
After all that went down with leading scorer and captain Ces Molina’s shock exit, her on-court presence has never mattered more than it ever has now.
“It’s challenging of course, but then I’m not alone. I have the whole team, we have Ishie (Lalongisip) who can really step up,” said Gandler.
As Cignal’s new go-to attacker, blocking out the noise from losing their two mainstays became her first order of duty.
“We just didn’t dwell on that. I think the only way to improve is to accept the challenges that we will face.
Gandler added: “No pressure din po for us naman kasi we trained for this (situation). Everyone trained for this. It’s the same teamwork.”
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