Importless Cignal snaps long PLDT streak
With Cignal desperate for a spark, Ishie Lalongisip delivered.
The 23-year-old outside hitter came off the bench and seized her moment, powering the Super Spikers to their first win in the PVL Reinforced Conference—an emphatic 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 upset of PLDT on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It ended Cignal’s 0-2 start and halted the High Speed Hitters’ 15-game winning streak.
Without injured Vanie Gandler and following the departure of Greek import Eva Chantava—released after a management-coaches meeting deemed it “best for both sides to part ways”—Cignal turned to its locals to deliver.
Erika Santos, the PVL On Tour MVP, led the charge with 17 points. But it was Lalongisip who provided the game-changing energy with 15 points, 11 excellent receptions and eight digs.
“Every day, I’ve been trying to get my game back because I know I wasn’t playing at my real level,” said Lalongisip in Filipino. “In training, we started just enjoying the game again. That carried over today.”
Lalongisip had been quiet in the first two matches, but against a powerhouse PLDT squad that had swept the PVL On Tour and Invitational, the sophomore stepped up—just as she did in the last All-Filipino Conference when Cignal lost stars Ces Molina and Ria Meneses.
“I think we were too focused on the negatives, and it took a toll on us,” she said. “We just kept working hard every day to get back on track.”
Cignal coach Shaq Delos Santos, who missed their previous loss to Farm Fresh due to hospitalization, said the early struggles—and Chantava’s exit—were a wake-up call. “What we’re most happy about is it woke everyone up—including me,” said Delos Santos.
