CIGNAL averted an upset this time around as it took down Capital1, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, in Pool A of the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference play-in tournament on Thursday at the Philsports Arena.
Even as the Solar Spikers managed to snatch a set, the HD Spikers proved that lessons have been learned from their qualifying-round shocker.
Dawn Macandili-Catindig had a sweeping 18-dig, seven-reception game to avoid jeopardizing Cignal’s late playoff push.
All the HD Spikers need now is one last play-in win over ZUS Coffee on Tuesday to book one of the last two playoff tickets as the 7-seed.
Waiting in the best-of-three quarterfinals is an in-form 2-seed in Petro Gazz that has won its last 10 games ahead of the playoffs.
After a demoralizing defeat to Galeries Tower in the qualifying round, the thought of still having something to fight for is what Macandili-Catindig used to rally herself and the team forward.
READ: PVL Play-In: Who will advance and who will head to the lottery?
"‘Yung opportunity pa rin na makapasok sa quarters. Although it is a challenge na we have to go through the play-in, but that’s the reality na kailangan namin i-accept," the Cignal skipper said.
"As one of the ates, it was a challenge na paano pa-realize sa kanila na may mga maganda pa rin naman kaming nagawa. It’s just that ayun nga, bilog ang bola. Maraming pwedeng mangyari and nire-reassure lang kami nila coach na there’s still an opportunity na makapasok sa quarterfinals."
Meanwhile, half of its playoff fate is still within the Solar Spikers’ hands.
Riding on twin 12-point games from Leila Cruz and Trisha Geneses, Capital1 couldn't keep the momentum from a second-set fightback going and fell flat to the red-hot Cignal offense in the endgame.
To keep its playoff hopes alive, Capital1 must first win over ZUS Coffee and hope it can play its part in beating Cignal to force a triple tie.
Whichever team will have a superior quotient, first by virtue of match points then by set ratio, wins the pool and advances to the quarterfinals.
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