CIGNAL was one of five Premier Volleyball League (PVL) teams that lent a pair of its own aces to Alas Pilipinas for international duty.
And they weren’t just any other losses at that, as the HD Spikers kickstarted the Reinforced Conference without starters Vanie Gandler and Dawn Macandili-Catindig.
But even without the star duo, Cignal has zoomed to a three-game unbeaten start through an ever-heroic showing from returning guest reinforcement MJ Perez, who has had a 25-point average in this opening stretch.
At least for the time being, head coach Shaq delos Santos’ pre-conference worries about missing his top weapons on offense and defense have been allayed.
“Siyempre nabawasan (‘yung kaba namin) dahil grabe’ yung effort na ginagawa ng players while nasa Alas ‘yung two players namin,” said delos Santos.
“Happy lang ako kasi sumusunod lang sila sa sistema na meron yung team na kailangang mas ma-improve pa namin. Sinabi nga ni Maria (Perez), mas magiging mahirap talaga itong next games namin kasi for sure, pag-aaralan at pag-aaralan talaga kami ng mga teams."
Moreover, a late injury bug is another fear he hopes to keep at bay up until the very end — wherever that may be for Cignal this conference.
“(Priority rin) ‘yung pag-aalaga du’n sa players. Kailangan, safe at secure sila, at yung kundisyon nila, kailangan, 100 percent every game especially sa training.”
Far from satisfied
Perez, meanwhile, won’t even risk resting on her laurels this early, as the undermanned HD Spikers shoot for their first-ever PVL championship in their three-year run in the league.
This, even as Gandler and Macandili-Catindig are expected to return by as early as Aug. 11 at the conclusion of Leg 2 of the 2024 Southeast Asian (SEA) V.League.
READ: Cignal dodges Capital1 upset ax to stay atop PVL Pool B
“We’re happy, but still it’s not enough. I feel that we (haven’t) reached our peak and we need to push more, especially these type of games,” said Perez.
“It’s not gonna be easy. Actually, it’s getting harder and we have to just keep working because we have a goal and game by game, we have to (think) of our goal.”
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