Vanie Gandler refuses to back down as Cignal eyes bounce back

“Yeah, it was a tough loss, but it’s Game 1, it’s a best-of-three series for a reason. We’re just going forward and doing what we need to do to improve,” said Gandler after the 91-minute defeat.

“Creamline really did their best, so maybe we were overwhelmed with how we played, and yeah, it’s a new day tomorrow.”

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Gandler led Cignal’s offense with 17 points off 17-of-56 spikes, along with 10 excellent receptions, while Erika Santos was limited to 10 points on 9-of-39 attacks.

Setter Gel Cayuna added six points as the third-highest scorer, while starting outside hitter Tin Tiamzon was held to just three points.

Middle blockers Rose Doria-Aquino and Jackie Acuña were also quiet offensively, tallying three and one point, respectively.

Game 2 is scheduled on Thursday still at the historic Big Dome, giving the Super Spikers another chance to reset and avoid dwelling on their opening loss.

“Yeah, we’re approaching the loss with our heads up. Like I said, the championship series isn’t over, and we know the lapses and what we did wrong, so hopefully we’re able to bounce back,” said Gandler.

“That’s why we’re not dwelling on our loss today, we’re just focusing on our recovery and then what we need to do to improve our lapses.”