–Marlo Cueto/INQUIRER.net
Cignal knew nothing was going to come easy in the PVL Reinforced Conference Quarterfinals.
But the team were determined to fight until the end and even a 50-point performance from Capital 1’s Marina Tušova, which saw her break her own league scoring record, did nothing to slow them down.
“We were in a good position [in the preliminaries] So we were not going to allow [Capital1 to beat us] “I’m happy that we won this knockout game,” Lili Meneses said in Filipino.
Meneses recorded 21 points and seven blocks to help hold off Tushoba in the HD Spikers’ 25-19, 36-34, 16-25, 22-25, 15-12 victory at the Filoil Eco-Oil Center on Saturday, booking a spot in the semifinals.
“I don’t know what to say. [about defending Tushova] “No matter what we did, she still had 50 points,” Meneses said with a laugh, “so this is another record, so we’re just grateful that we won even though she broke another record.”
“Stay positive”
Cignal entered the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed with a 7-1 record on the cards, but what should have been a one-sided win on paper turned into a full-on hard-fought battle.
A big factor in this was the presence of Russian scoring machine Tusova, who kept the Solar Spikers in the match despite a tough second set and a 2-0 deficit.
“[Give] credit [Capital1]especially [Tushova]”They were really tough to play against,” Signal coach Shaq Delos Santos said. “No matter how hard we tried, [defensively]When she gets going, she’s going to score.”
But the HD Spikers knew what a threat Tusova could bring and expected nothing less from their rising team. And MJ Perez, although she didn’t match the achievements of her Capital 1 colleague, wasn’t going to be left behind. She gave the team 34 points and plenty of motivation.
“Tushova is a great player. She’s good, she’s very smart. Of course, my position is that I’m the import player on this team so I have to rise to the occasion every time, every opportunity, and it’s been tough,” said the Venezuelan native, “But I was able to stay positive because we had the whole team. It’s all teamwork. So I was able to stay very positive.”
“I never thought we would lose. My mind was always positive, I always thought this is our game, I always prayed, and throughout the game I kept telling the girls, ‘This is our game, this is our game,'” Perez added.
She’s going to need a lot more positivity as the signal situation gets tougher.
Eight-time champions Creamline and defending champions Petro Gaz will meet in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to face HD Spykers in the semi-finals.
In any case, it will be a tough challenge for Signal. “In my opinion, our work here is not done yet, we still have work to do and this is the first step and we knew it would not be easy,” Pérez added. “We knew it would be difficult and we saw it, but now we have to stay on target, but still this is not our main goal. Our main goal is to try to qualify for the final.”
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
The subscription was successfully completed.
“Whatever happens, I’m happy and proud of my team. [in the game]”We overcame hardship and came out victorious,” Delos Santos said. “That’s what’s most important to us.” INQ
