Kobe Shinwa University may have fallen to PLDT in their preliminary round matchup, but the Japanese guest team remains confident it can flip the script in the gold medal match of the 2025 PVL Invitational.
The High Speed Hitters dealt Kobe Shinwa its lone elimination-round loss last Monday, pulling off a sweep in three tight sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.
Since then, however, the collegiate squad has regained its footing, stringing together three straight wins over Creamline, Cignal, and Chery Tiggo. Their dramatic reverse sweep of the Crossovers (21-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-6) on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum sealed their place in the finals.
“In our last game, we lost all the close sets because of some errors — that’s something we’ll work on. We believe we still have a chance to win,” said team captain Sakura Furuta.
(C) PVL Images
For Furuta and head coach Kiyokazu Yamamoto, PLDT’s strengths are already clear. The High Speed Hitters have extended their winning streak to 12 matches, including an unblemished run during the PVL On Tour.
In their previous encounter, Kobe Shinwa was overwhelmed at the net, outblocked 11-1, as PLDT imposed its size advantage against the Japanese side, which averages just 5-foot-8 in height.
“PLDT has strong defense, a fast setter, and quick attacks. Our plan is to break their defense with aggressive serving,” said Furuta, who dished out 33 excellent sets against Chery Tiggo.
“We saw that PLDT has a really good block. So, we’re thinking about how to handle PLDT’s blocking,” added Yamamoto.
The championship clash is set for Sunday at 6:30 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. There, Kobe Shinwa hopes to become just the second guest team to capture a PVL crown, following in the footsteps of Kurashiki Ablaze.
