Ace queen Coronel leads Cebu conquest as Galeries snaps 14-game skid; Cignal rises to 4-0

MANILA, Philippines – The Galeries Tower Highrisers finally arrested a 14-game skid spanning three PVL conferences as they swept the Capital1 Solar Spikers in a rollercoaster result, 26-24, 25-14, 25-23, at the packed Minglanilla Sports Complex in Cebu on Saturday, December 7.

Winless for the entirety of the 2024 Reinforced Conference, Galeries Tower rose to mirror Capital1 with identical 1-4 records to snap a lengthy slide spanning three tournaments, highlighted by six heartbreaking five-set decisions and four games that went four frames.

Alas Pilipinas prospect setter Julia Coronel set the tone in front of 5,520 fans with 10 excellent sets and 9 points — 5 coming off aces that all came in the first 6 points of a momentum-boosting 6-0 second-set start.

Jewel Encarnacion led the balanced attack with 11 points while Ysa Jimenez and Andrea Marzan scored 10 apiece.

“Thank you, Lord, thank you Galeries. Our game plan worked. They were all team players and they all followed the game plan,” Galeries Tower head coach Lerma Giron said in Filipino.

“I’m just really thankful for God and I’m just really happy to get our first win,” added Coronel, who enjoyed her first pro career win since being drafted No. 3 overall in the inaugural PVL Rookie Draft. “I hope we get many, many more wins this conference and we’ll work hard to get those.”

Coronel’s ex-La Salle teammate Leila Cruz topscored in the loss with 14 points off 10 attacks, 2 blocks, and 2 aces, followed by 10 points from captain Jorelle Singh.

Meanwhile, the Cignal HD Spikers claimed a momentary hold of the standings’ top spot with a 4-0 card off a 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 squeaker sweep over the win-hungry Nxled Chameleons, who dropped their fifth straight game in this new five-month conference.

Alas prospect Vanie Gandler led with a team-high 13 points off 10 attacks and 3 blocks, backstopped by 10 points from former PVL MVP Ces Molina.

Over at the losing side, Chiara Permentilla continued her early-conference scoring spark with a game-high 18 points, as Lucille Almonte and Lycha Ebon followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively. – Rappler.com