MANILA, Philippines — Erika Santos erupted for a career-high 30 points, leading Cignal’s bounce-back win over ZUS Coffee for a ticket to the PVL on Tour quarterfinals on Sunday at City of Passi Arena in Iloilo.

Santos, one of Cignal’s key recruits, continued to flourish with her new club team, delivering her first-ever 30-point game behind 29 attacks on 58 attempts and a block in the 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16 win.

READ: PVL: Erika Santos makes presence felt in Cignal debut

Her performance helped Cignal close the preliminary round of the preseason with four wins in five matches.

“We just went back to what we worked on. We didn’t allow ourselves to give up,” said the 25-year-old opposite hitter in Filipino. “It was good that we acknowledged what happened last night–our mistakes and the things we still need to learn. We didn’t stop. We just kept going.”

Coming off a tough 13-25, 28-26, 15-25, 15-25 loss to Chery Tiggo less than 24 hours earlier where she scored 14, Santos made sure to bounce back and lead the HD Spikers to an outright quarterfinal berth in Pool B.

“She told me earlier, ‘Coach, I couldn’t even sleep last night.’ That’s why I told her she bounced back stronger,” said Cignal coach Shaq Delos Santos. “It’s good that we had another chance today to make up for what we lacked yesterday.”

“Honestly, we were really disappointed with how things turned out yesterday. We had expectations, but we just had to accept what happened. We got back pretty late, around midnight, and practiced this morning,” he added. “This game was really important for us to make the quarterfinals.”

Cignal HD Spikers’ Ishie Lalongisip. –PVL PHOTO

Ishie Lalongisip contributed 15 points and 13 excellent receptions. Jackie Acuña added 11 points, including three blocks. Rose Doria also had three kill blocks to finish with nine points, while Tin Tiamzon chipped in seven points and 10 receptions.

Gel Cayuna orchestrated the offense with 27 excellent sets and scored six points.

After taking the first two sets, Cignal lost steam in the third and trailed 11-18. Santos helped trim the deficit to 21-24, but a service error by Tiamzon gave ZUS the set.

The HD Spikers regrouped in the fourth, capitalizing on the Thunderbelles’ unforced errors to build a 19-13 lead. Santos and Acuña finished it off, with Acuña’s quick attack initially ruled inside before a floor touch challenge confirmed the game-winner.

Cignal pulled through a tight opening set, with Cayuna scoring on two 1-2 plays for a 23-22 lead before Chinnie Arroyo committed back-to-back errors.

They built momentum in the second behind two huge kills from Santos that opened a 20-13 gap.

ZUS Coffee couldn’t sustain its breakthrough win over Creamline on Saturday, dropping to 2-2.

Chinnie Arroyo led ZUS with 20 points. Iloilo native Chai Troncoso added nine, while AC Miner and Fiola Ceballos had eight apiece.

Jov Gonzaga, who played through a back injury in the win over Creamline, only appeared in the opening set and sat out the rest of the match.

ZUS Coffee wraps up its Pool B campaign against Chery Tiggo in Candon, Ilocos Sur, on July 29.