The Cignal Super Spikers. PVL Media Bureau
MANILA (UPDATED) — No team is now eligible for an outright semis berth in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference.
This, as Cignal dealt its sister team PLDT its first loss of the tournament, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23, on Tuesday at the Filoil Centre in San Juan.
Ahead of the start of the competition, it was announced that the team that would sweep the preliminaries will get a playoff advantage, securing a semis spot.
PLDT was the last unbeaten squad before tonight's match. With this, all teams will now have to go through either the qualifying or play-in rounds to get into the Final Four.
"The way sila maglaro kanina, alam namin 'yung sign na talagang eager na eager silang manalo," said coach Shaq delos Santos during the postgame interview, referring to the Super Spikers.
Delos Santos' wards successfully quelled an uprising in the opener. From a 17-9 Cignal advantage, it turned to a one-point 21-20 lead after the High Speed Hitters rallied their way back.
The Super Spikers showed poise late in the frame, as Gel Cayuna's surprise drop ball put her team to set point, and Ishie Lalongisip's off-the-block kill secured the frame for a 1-0 lead.
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Set 3 became a battle of runs — from the 16-11 count, with Cignal leading, the High Speed Hitters managed to overtake the Super Spikers at 16-17 with a 6-0 run. The eventual winners answered back with a 5-1 run of their own, capped by an Erika Santos off-the-block hit, and pulled away to end the match in two hours and 36 minutes.
Leading the charge was Santos, who delivered a game-high 17 points done mostly on attacks, while Vanie Gandler was there to support with 14 markers and eight excellent receptions.
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"Siguro 'yung tumatak lang din sa akin 'yung game namin, last game namin. Kasi may pagka-competitive din ako. Ayaw ko na natatalo lang nang basta-basta," said Santos, anchoring the bounce-back win after losing against Nxled in straight sets on Feb. 14.
Cayuna proved steady with 18 excellent sets, while Dawn Catindig did her part on the defense with 17 excellent digs.
On the other hand, Savi Davison paced the losing effort with 14 points and seven excellent receptions.