PLDT’s opponent in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference knockout quarterfinals will be Chery Tiggo, one of the two teams that defeated them during the preliminaries.
As the playoffs are a knockout affair from the quarterfinals up to the championship game, High Speed Hitters head coach Rald Ricafort believes that stats and previous results are irrelevant in post-season action.
In their first-round clash with the Crossovers, PLDT fell in five tough sets: 19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 10-15. Chery import Khat Bell exploded for 39 big points while Ara Galang contributed 23.
“Siguro may limit na rin ‘yung scouting and preparation eh. Siguro talagang pagandahan na lang talaga ng gising ‘yung (quarterfinals),” said Ricafort on Thursday after they clinched the fourth seed with a four-set win over Choco Mucho.
“Nung last game namin, breaks of the game, talagang umall-out si Khat Bell. So hopefully sa game namin sa Tuesday mabawasan namin kahit papaano and magpe-perform din ‘yung team nang maayos,” he recalled.
(c) PVL Images
Still, that five-set loss will be crucial for Ricafort’s staff to study the tendencies of their opponents, providing them with the opportunity to address their mistakes from the last encounter.
“Siguro this Tuesday at least na try na namin so aaralin namin ‘yung ngayon saka ‘yung game namin ngayon. Malaking bagay ‘yung naglaro na kami para ‘yung maliliit na adjustments, ma-correct namin,” added the one-time PVL champion coach.
For Russian reinforcement Lena Samoilenko – who is on her second tour of duty for PLDT – she does not place much emphasis on her individual match-up with Bell, one of the most explosive imports this conference.
According to the 6-foot-4 open spiker, their focus should be on their own game and how they execute the game plan, rather than on their opponents.
“For me, it doesn’t matter – Khat Bell or other imports. Of course, Khat Bell is a good player, but we need to show my game… Not just my game, but the team game. We show we don’t have problems,” she said.
