Cignal HD bounces back, trips Sta. Lucia

Games today (Filoil Flying V Center) LIVE ON ESPIN5, 5PLUS 2 p.m. – PLDT vs Foton 4:15 p.m. – Cignal HD vs Generika-Ayala 7 p.m. – United VC vs F2 Logistics

Cignal reaped the benefits of its key positional tweak to emerge victorious over Sta. Lucia, 21-25, 25-13, 25-13, 25-19, and grab solo third in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Tuesday night at Filoil Flying V Center.

The HD Spikers moved import Ana Artemeva to middle blocker, allowing skipper Rachel Ann Daquis to sow terror in the open spiker position, and the strategy paid off with their fifth win in eight outings.

Artemeva proved a steady presence at the net, accounting for five block points in her team-high 17 points, while Daquis contributed 13. Cignal drew double-digit production from import Erica Wilson (16) and local star Mylene Paat (14).

“Ginawa naming middle si Ana (Artemeva) kahit ayaw niya, kailangan siyang mag-adjust. Naging effective kasi nagamit din namin si Rachel at the same time,” said Cignal coach Edgar Barroga, whose charges fought out of a 0-1 deficit to secure the bounceback victory following their loss to Petron at the end of the first round.

Now back on track, the HD Spikers eye back-to-back today against struggling Generika Ayala (1-7) at 4:15 p.m. at Filoil following the 2 p.m. tussle between PLDT (4-4) and skidding Foton (1-7).

Second-running F2 Logistics (6-1) features in the 7 p.m. main game against United VC (4-3), gunning for its second straight win to stay within striking distance of idle pacesetter Petron (8-0).

“As much as possible, we want to sustain the momentum. We’re already in the second round and adjustments were already made. We expect all teams to step up. Every game will be very important as far as our quest for title is concerned,” said F2 mentor Ramil de Jesus.