PLDT revived its semifinal hopes, booting out Akari to snap a four-game losing streak, 25-11, 25-21, 25-19 in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference, Thursday at the Smart Arena Coliseum.
The High Speed Hitters were coming off a controversial four-set loss to Petro Gazz – which the team protested but was later on denied by the league – last Saturday at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex.
“For me, tinake namin as a challenge yun kasi ganun talaga wala namang perfect na officiating. Pero syempre sa amin, inano lang namin for the good ng tournament kaya nag-ano kami. Anyways natapos na yun so ayun,” said PLDT head coach George Pascua.
“Yung connection na ginawa namin during training kasi last mga previous games namin hindi nagcoconnect sila middle kasi walang receive so yun ang tinrabaho namin, connection and collective effort ng bawat isa,” he added.
The 1-2 punch of Elena Savkina-Samoilenko and Mika Reyes did the work for the High Speed Hitters. The former put up a team-high 20 points on 16 attacks, three blocks, and an ace while the latter scored 15 points on 10 attacks, three aces, and two kill blocks to help their side bounce back from the painful loss and up their card 2-4 win-loss standing.
PLDT was off to a hot start in the opener, going on a blazing 11-1 start before leading by as much as 16 points, 24-8, after Samoilenko converted one from the service line. The High Speed Hitters went on to take the next two to eliminate the Chargers from semis contention.
Prisilla Rivera, who was coming off a historic 44-point outing against Choco Mucho, led the 2-5 Akari with 23 points. No other player scored more than five points for the Chargers.
PLDT looks to sustain its momentum against Cignal on Tuesday, 2:30 PM while Akari will take on F2 Logistics later that day at 5:30 PM.
