PVL: PLDT puts first loss behind with dominant bounce-back win

PLDT High Speed Hitters’ Savi Davison in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference.–PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–After being caught off-guard in its previous game, PLDT returned to its winning ways in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-16 win over Capital1 on Saturday at Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Savannah Davison showed up once again for the High Speed Hitters with 22 points from 19 attacks, two blocks and an ace to lift PLDT to a 3-1 record in the All-Filipino Conference.

PLDT suffered its first loss last Saturday at the hands of Petro Gazz and Filipino-American Brooke van Sickle, who turned a projected nail-biter into a lopsided triumph.

SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024

“’Yun naman yung lesson, na kailangan naming i-recover agad. Itong win ngayon yung result nung cinorrect namin nung last game,” PLDT coach Rald Ricafort said. “Happy with the win, happy na naka-contribute ulit yung mga role players namin.”

Capital1, who was coming off its first franchise win at the expense of Strong Group on Tuesday, failed to follow up on that performance as the Solar Spikers had a hard time piercing the defense of PLDT that had an 8-1 advantage on blocks and the edge on defending the floor.

Fiola Ceballos helped Davison with 10 points, all from attacks, and team captain Kath Arado manned the defense with 13 excellent digs and six excellent receptions.

“I always think there’s room for improvement. When you look at how many attempts I had, I could definitely do better in terms of keeping the ball in the court,” Davison said. “Moving forward we just strive to be better everyday.”

“Coming off [a loss] to Petro Gazz … there’s lessons learned. We took them into practice this week,” she added.

Setter Rhea Dimaculangan had more playing time than Kim Fajardo and dished out 12 excellent sets.

“Siguro skillswise, hindi masyado yung sa adjustment pero yung maging mas consistent saka yun nga, ‘di kasi napa-practice yung pressure eh,” Ricafort added.

“So binabanggit ko sa kanila na pati yun kailangan dalhin sa training para naha-handle nang maayos sa game,” he said.

The Solar Spikers had a low-scoring performance with Sydney Niegos and Heather Guino-o top scoring their crew with measly six points each.

PLDT will have some time to gear up and replicate its strong performance against a hot-streaking Choco Mucho bunch on March 19 in the same San Juan City venue.

“Marami pang aayusin eh, so mas nilu-look forward ko ‘yon. Alam ko gusto naman naming bumawi rin coming from loss last game,” Ricafort said.

“Mahirap yung laro pero kailangan pagtrabahuhan kasi kailangan yung mga panalo. Kung makasungkit, yun yung mas importante,” he added.

“We’re definitely gonna need some hard work. I’m glad that we have a 10-day break in between so we can get to work on things that we learned from the Petro Gazz and just take some rest,” Davison said.