BY ABBY TORALBA
CIGNAL showed the door on Choco Mucho, scoring a 17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-14 victory yesterday to clinch the last semifinals berth in the PVL Reinforced Conference at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The HD Spikers formalized their entry to the single-round semis thanks largely to American import Tai Bierria who delivered 18 points, 11 digs and three excellent receptions.
Open spiker Ces Molina also had 13 markers and nine digs, while middle blockers Roselyn Doria and Ria Meneses finished with nine and eight kills, respectively for Cignal.
The HD Spikers came off a 25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 25-20 triumph over F2 last Saturday.
“Siyempre una, very thankful kasi grabe, syempre iyong bago namin marating ito grabe iyong prayers namin na talagang mabigyan talaga kami ng chance na makapasok talaga sa semifinals,” Cignal coach Shaq Delos Santos said.
He added: “Very proud doon sa team, especially sa mga players kasi grabe din iyong effort namin, sa preparation namin and then especially doon sa game ibinigay nila iyong best nila at nasunod iyong game plan namin.”
The HD Spikers, who will be the fourth-ranked squad in the playoffs, joined Creamline, Chery Tiggo, and defending champion Petro Gazz in the semis that will start this Thursday.
Des Cheng paced the Flying Titans with 15 points, while Kat Tolentino scored nine markers.
Choco Mucho, which failed to avenge a 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 26-28 loss to the Cool Smashers last Thursday, finished the import-laden conference with a 3-5 record.
