PLDT’s Kianna Dy during a game against Galeries Tower in the PVL on Tour in Cebu.–PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — PLDT completed a perfect preliminary campaign in the PVL on Tour after dominating Galeries Tower, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17, on Sunday at USJ-R Coliseum in Cebu City.
Kianna Dy, who celebrated her 30th birthday in their straight-set win over the erstwhile-unbeaten Nxled on Saturday, continued to play inspired in front of her family as she waxed hot in the third set to finish with 12 points and finish Pool A with a 5-0 record.
READ: PVL: Birthday girl Kianna Dy shines as PLDT ruins Nxled’s perfect record
PLDT awaits its opponent in the quarterfinals, which starts on August 7, as the winless Galeries and the other seven teams will play in a knockout round for the remaining four tickets to the playoffs.
“The tournament is still going to be a long one. We can’t always be contented with how we perform, we always need to keep on improving every day. We’ll prepare for the quarters,” Dy said.
The High Speed Hitters trailed to start each set, even coming off an 11-point win in the second frame, they still trailed 3-7 in the third. Dy stepped up to restore the order and steal the momentum, keeping Galeries at bay, 16-12.
Savi Davison, who came back from a break in Canada, was fielded once again late in the third set and scored two consecutive points for the match point, 24-17, before Dy delivered the game winner.
Mika Reyes and Jovy Prado were also instrumental with 10 points each. Majoy Baron and Kiesha Bedonia, who led the way against Nxled less than 24 hours ago, had seven and six points, respectively.
READ: PVL: PLDT gains added weapon as Savi Davison returns in Cebu
Kim Fajardo dished out 17 excellent sets on top of four points, as Kath Arado protected the floor with 11 digs and seven excellent receptions for the High Speed Hitters, who only had 12 errors in the match.
“The biggest challenge at first was patience, since we didn’t really have time to prepare for them. Their tempo is really fast, and it’s tough to adjust to that without practice. So we reminded the team earlier to combine adjustments with patience,” said PLDT coach Rald Ricafort in Filipino. “Even if we started a bit slow in the first and third sets, when it was time to step up, they knew what to do.”
PLDT started flat in the opening set, 4-8, as Reyes helped them recover after igniting a 6-1 run to turn a 15-17 deficit into a 21-18 lead. Ysa Jimenez cut it down to one, but Prado scored a down-the-line kill and an ace to reach set point, 24-20, before Reyes nailed the set-clinching tip.
The High Speed Hitters dominated the second set, with Reyes’ tip and a lucky dig by Prado that Galeries failed to catch, capped their team’s seven straight points to pull away with a 22-12 margin and never looked back to take a two-set advantage.
Galeries lost all five of its Pool A games, hoping to bounce back in the knockout round starting on August 2 to make it to the quarterfinal round.
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France Ronquillo and Jean Asis carried Galeries with 11 points each.