CIGNAL HD accomplished a grand slam as the HD Spikers outlasted Megabuilders, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, in the winner-take-all Game Three of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference men’s finals on Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
After a heartbreaking performance last season, Cignal, under new coach Oliver Almadro and a new set of players, snatched the Reinforced Conference two months ago by sweeping Air Force in two games and completed the golden double by surviving the gritty and stubborn Volley Bolts.
“The players believed in the system and showed their maturity,” Almadro said shortly after winning his second title in his second stint in the semi-professional league. “I always tell them that mental toughness will win this for us. And they did it.”
The title did not come easy. The HD Spikers teetered before securing the first two sets and gave the Volley Bolts the potential to turn the game around when they yielded the third set.
The fourth set went even tighter. Cignal had to dig deep from the efforts of Most Valuable Player Saku Capate and skipper Isay Marasigan to post thrilling 21-18 and 23-20 leads in the framce.
Bryan Bagunas, James Natividad and Fauzi Ismail kept Megabuilders alive by making it 23-22, only to fall short against the more composed HD Spikers.
Capate was named Finals MVP after making 16 points, all but one coming from kills.
But Almadro said Marasigan, who topscored with 17 points and made the championship-winning block, was also deserving of the Finals MVP award.
“Ysay will be Ysay Marasigan. If I’m giving Finals MVP, I’m giving it to him and Capate,” Almadro said.
Edmar Bonono and Torres chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Vince Mangulabnan made 49 excellent sets for the champions.
Air Force, meanwhile, bagged third place after beating Santa Elena, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23, thanks to the stellar performance of national team player Ranran Abdilla, who unleashed 25 points.