Horton, HD Spikers fired up for 2nd round of PSL elims

MANILA, Philippines – Cignal shut down its first-round campaign on a sorry note after dropping a five-set loss to Generika-Ayala in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix late Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre in san Juan.

But for import Jeane Horton, the battle has just begun.

Horton, the high-flying American from Texas, said they will enter the second round with fire in their eyes in a bid to turn things around.

The HD Spikers have only three games in the second round where they would determine their semifinal ranking.

So far, Cignal finished at fifth place with a 3-4 mark and a couple more wins in the second round will definitely allow it to avoid powerhouse Petron and reigning champion F2 Logistics in the knockout quarterfinals.

The survivors in the quarterfinals will figure in a best-of-three semifinals showdown to determine the finalists.

From there, anything is possible.

And Horton is ready to lead her team to a stunning victory.

“We’re definitely a lot hungry going into the second round,” said Horton, whose flamboyant antics and killer dance moves made her the toast of local volleyball crowd.

“Going into the second round, we can’t dwell in the first round anymore. We have to move forward. We have to forget about what happened in the first round and keep on pushing forward.”

The first round isn’t really bad for the HD Spikers.

Despite losing key players like Jovelyn Gonzaga, Mylene Paat, Chie Saet, Paneng Mercado and Royse Tubino, the HD Spikers posted a massive win over Cocolife before losing to Petron and bouncing back against Foton. They lost to Sta. Lucia and F2 Logistics before winning over Smart and losing again to Generika-Ayala.

Along the way, the HD Spikers developed its chemistry with Horton now playing beautiful music with Sonja Milanovic, who posted a conference-high nine blocks against the Lifesavers.

Skipper Rachel Anne Daquis is also regaining her form as well as Cherry Vivas, Acy Masangkay, Janine Navarro and Shirley Salamagos.

“The first round is knowing each other, the next round is moving forward now. So don’t count us out. We’re still in the running.”

“It’s not yet over until it’s over.”