Despite struggling in her previous two outings, Erika Santos rediscovered her lethal offensive form just in time to save Cignal’s campaign in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference.
After dropping their first two games in Pool A of the import-spiced tournament, the Super Spikers finally lived up to their new moniker as Santos and company, despite having no reinforcement, barged into the win column by stunning the erstwhile-unbeaten PLDT High Speed Hitters, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21, on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The PVL On Tour MVP unloaded 17 points on a 17-of-36 spiking clip to end her former team PLDT’s 15-game winning streak, which stretched from its two title runs in the preseason and Invitational, even after the team parted ways with Greek import Eva Chantava.
On her 26th birthday, the rising PVL star followed it up with a 21-point performance to lift Cignal past Nxled, which drew 38 points from Paola Martinez, in a nail-biting five-setter, 25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-15, 16-14, to improve to a 2-2 record.
For her massive bounce-back showing after being quiet in their first two games, Santos was named the PVL Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the period of October 21 to 25.
‘Personally, we just tried to stay focused and composed. We didn’t dwell on the past games. If anything, those losses motivated us to be hungrier for a win,’ said the 5-foot-9 opposite spiker.
‘We were too stiff in the first two games. It was like we forgot who we were and what our strengths were. Our errors got the best of us, and we couldn’t move forward. We just put in the work and reflected on what we needed to improve,’ she added.
Santos became the first local player to win the weekly honor in the Reinforced Conference, which is deliberated by print and online reporters covering the league organized by Sports Vision. Akari import Annie Mitchem bagged the award the previous week.
The former La Salle Lady Spiker, who has found much success under Cignal, edged out imports Anna DeBeer of ZUS Coffee, Eli Rousseaux of Farm Fresh, Marlee Smith of Choco Mucho, Yuni Bautista of Chery Tiggo, and Lindsey Vander Weide of Petro Gazz, as well as PLDT’s Savi Davison, for the recognition.
In Cignal’s five-set escape of Nxled, Santos perfectly complemented new import Katrin Trebichavska of Slovakia, who fought off jet lag and unfamiliarity with the system to help secure the victory.
‘She really helps the team because she brings a light mood and is very explosive, which challenges us to match her energy. We’re thankful that she’s sharing her experience with us,’ said Santos.
Santos and the Super Spikers aim to finish the first round on a high note when they take on the Capital1 Solar Spikers on Friday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.