PVL: PLDT pushes streak to three but wary of slow start

PLDT High Speed Hitters.–PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The PLDT High Speed Hitters may have extended their winning streak to three games in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) second All-Filipino Conference but they learned a valuable lesson from the Nxled Chameleons.

PLDT needed to buck a first-set loss before trouncing Nxled, 22-25,  25-17, 25-11, 25-20, to improve to a 3-1 record and join idle Chery Tiggo in third place.

From their poor reception in the opening set, the High Speed Hitters got their act together with Rhea Dimaculangan dishing out 20 excellent sets to fuel the 1-2 punch of Savannah Davison and Erika Santos.

Filipino-Canadian spiker Davison did the damage to Nxled in the last three sets, pouring 21 points on top of 11 excellent receptions, while Santos chipped in 17 points on 16-of-28 attacking clip.

Royse Tubino was also instrumental with 13 points and 10 digs, as libero Kath Arado protected the floor with 18 digs and 11 excellent receptions.

PLDT’s Savannah Davison.–PVL PHOTO

“That first set [loss] will serve as a lesson to our team that we can’t afford to have a slow start because Nxled’s heavy serves caused our lapses. Good thing, we were able to recover and eventually win the game,” said PLDT coach Rald Ricafort in Filipino. “We were trying to avoid fluctuation [despite our winning streak]. With what we showed in the first set, I guess we’re still at the phase of polishing and studying our system.”

Team captain Dimaculangan agreed with their coach, believing that the key to success is embracing their respective roles and working as a unit.

“Lesson learned. We have to be more aggressive every game so we can gauge the level of our team,” said Dimaculangan in Filipino. “It should start with ourselves. Each one of us should know how to embrace her role then we have to work as a team so we will learn to handle any situation.”

“Like in the game earlier, the composure should start in me because I have to make them comfortable with my setting until I make it easier for them to spike,” she added.

Lycha Ebon was the lone double-digit scorer for the Chameleons with 11 points, while Chiara Permentilla finished with seven points off a game-high four aces as her team finished with 10. 

Permentilla nailed back-to-back aces in the fourth to save a couple of match points for Nxled, 24-20, only for Rachel Austero to end the game with a quick attack and send them to their third straight loss, sliding to a 1-3 record.

PLDT eyes its fourth win against Gerflor (0-4) on Saturday at Philsports Arena, while Nxled battles Choco Mucho on Tuesday next week at the same venue in Pasig City.