PVL: Cignal Maintains Undefeated Record After Sweeping Creamline

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Cignal HD Spikers continued their dominant outing in the ongoing Premier Volleyball League (PVL) On Tour Tournament after blanking the Creamline Cool Smashers, 25-22, 25-18, 28-26, on July 1, 2025, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Determined to end the three-year slump against the winningest franchise in the history of the PVL, the HD Spikers came out firing from all cylinders to finally grab a win against the Cool Smashers.

The first phase of the match stunned the whole crowd in attendance as the Creamline hopefuls remained silent when Cignal sent out a demoralizing barrage that acted as a counter to every mini scoring run they deployed.

Erika Santos, Cignal’s biggest off-season acquisition from the PLDT High-Speed Hitters, maintained her high-level accuracy after sparking the HD Spikers’ clutch closing run to draw first blood.

The two-way veteran piled up the much-needed points in the eight final game sets that also served as answers to Creamline’s come-from-behind effort. She dealt more damage in the following set, when Cignal cruised to a 2-0 lead in a more convincing fashion.

After a scoring party in the opener, the HD Spikers doubled their effort defensively in the second as they anticipated a storm from the Cool Smashers. Unfortunately, the Sherwin Meneses-led squad squandered their chances when they committed several errors in the most crucial stretch of the duel.

Cignal looked to ice the game early in the third after reaching match point first, but Creamline’s never-say-die attitude rose to the occasion as they managed to dig a hole and claw back to equalize the affair.

Through the combined efforts of Sheena Toring and Michele Gumabao, the Cool Smashers were able to force Cignal to a tiebreaker, but the duo of Santos and Ishie Lalongisip took over in the clutch, resulting in their first dub against Creamline since the 2022 Reinforced Conference.

Santos was still on a tear for the HD Spikers as she led her team with an all-around effort of 18 points, two blocks, and two service aces.

Meanwhile, Lalongisip provided the scoring support for Santos and finished the massive win with 15 markers built from 13 successful attacks.

“Sobrang happy. Syempre, ‘di namin inexpect talaga na ma-straight sets. Good thing is sobrang nakaka-proud ‘yung team,” said Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos.