ALL eyes will be on Cignal’s rising star Vanie Gandler as she began her sophomore Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season with the back-to-back bronze medalists with a game-high 19-piece in Cignal’s season-opening win over Akari.
Such strong a start to the new conference debut also earned Gandler the first-ever PVL Press Corps Player of the Week citation, besting the likes of Creamline's Tots Carlos, PLDT's Savi Davison and Chery Tiggo's Mylene Paat.
But in the words of the former Ateneo ace herself, to “think outside the box and level up from here” will be her key to success.
READ: Vanie Gandler takes inaugural PVL PC Player of the Week nod
“Personally for me, now that I've played two conferences, I know that the teams are going to really scout me more, so I really have to think outside the box and level up from here,” said Gandler.
“As a team also, I'm sure teams are also gonna scout us — [which is] normal, like every team. That's a challenge, of course, always. We're just 14 [players] also, so, you know, staying healthy [is] everyone’s biggest kalaban,” she added.
Fall then rise
Gandler & Co. stumbled early in their 2024 PVL season debut after squandering the first set to the Chargers before completing the reverse sweep in four.
Results aside, Gandler was pleased to see the fighting spirit come alive for the HD Spikers in such short a time to prepare during the offseason.
“[The first win] feels good, of course, because our preparation time was very short but I'm happy that the team was able to come together. After the first set, it's normal first-game jitters but I could see how much we all want it and the fight [we gave],” said Gandler.
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