Cignal HD survived a tough challenge from a young Thai crew in EST Cola with a 25-23, 27-25, 25-12 victory to secure a provisionary share of the lead in the Premier Volleyball League Invitationals on Sunday night, Sept. 8, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Riding the crest of an easy win over the Farm Fresh Foxies, the HD Spikers had to dig deep in the first two sets before dominating the third to overcome a determined Thai side.

It was Cignal’s second straight win heading into the crucial match against Creamline on Monday, Sept. 9.

Creamline and defending champions Kurashiki Ablaze are battling for the solo lead at presstime

In this brief nine-day tournament featuring five teams, every match is critical as the top two teams from the single round elimination phase will battle for the championship.

"I'm very happy we pulled off this win. The first two sets were extremely tough, but our mindset was clear – we wanted to get it," said MJ Perez. She and the rest of the HD Spikers battled through fatigue, still recovering from the demanding Reinforced Conference.

Perez finished with 28 points, including five kill blocks, while Ces Molina backed her up with 12 markers and Chin Basas, Gel Cayuna, Rosely Doria, Riri Meneses and Jacki Acuña combined for 24 points.

Perez and Molina also helped anchor the HD Spikers’ defense, with the former finishing with 12 excellent digs and nine receptions, and the latter posting six excellent digs and the same number of receptions.

Cayuna also shone with 19 excellent sets, outplaying counterpart Kanokporn Sangthong, who had 12 excellent sets.

Warisara Seetaloed topscored for EST Cola with 17 points, while Nattharika Wasan, Tanyaporn Seeso and Natthawan Phatthaisong finished with nine, seven and six markers, respectively.

EST Cola, which had lost its first two matches to the Ablaze and Cool Smashers in four and three sets, respectively, proved to be a formidable opponent for Cignal.