HD SPIKERS AIM TO CAP LATE BRILLIANCE WITH TITLE SERIES SLOT

After being the last team to get out of the elimination round, a resurgent Cignal crew on Tuesday can become the first squad to punch a ticket to the title series of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference as a win—and depending on the manner in the event of a loss—will do the trick for the HD Spikers.

Coming into the 2:30 p.m. clash with Petro Gazz at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, the HD Spikers will avoid any complications of a tiebreak with a victory and have the luxury of watching who their best-of-three opponents will be when Creamline and ousted Chery Tiggo collide in the 5:30 p.m. game.

After dispatching of the Crossovers and Cool Smashers—the top two teams after the eliminations, in succession—the HD Spikers have all the momentum they need to get a crack at the title they have yet to win and eventually, the chance to spoil a Grand Slam party Creamline is setting up.

Should the HD Spikers drag the defending champion Angels to a deciding set before losing,

Cignal will still make the finals even in the event of an expected win by the Cool Smashers, as all three teams will wind up with 2-1 records.

Advantage, Cignal

That will happen because Cignal can earn one point from a five-set loss that will be added to the six points it already earned from the wins over Chery Tiggo and Creamline.

The best that Creamline and Petro Gazz could come up with—since they both lost in four sets to Cignal—will be six points each.

Creamline, in that scenario, can make the title series if it wins in four sets or less over Chery Tiggo.

“We’re just focused on the task at hand,” Petro Gazz coach Rald Ricafort, who has a very reliable import in Lindsey Vander Weide, said. “It’s a game we really need to win.”

Cignal, meanwhile, has made import Tai Bierria come off the bench since late in the eliminations, a Shaq delos Santos move that has produced wonders for the squad that finished third in the Open and Invitational Conferences this season.