PLDT High Speed Hitters during a PVL on Tour game.—PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — PLDT sent Nxled crashing with a rousing 25-11, 25-17, 25-21 sweep to Earn an outright ticket to the PVL on Tour quarterfinals on Saturday at USJ-R Coliseum in Cebu City.
The High Speed Hitters turned to Kiesha Bedonia, who continued to be a preseason revelation, and Majoy Baron, who erupted with eight of her 13 points in the second set.
Bedonia unleashed a game-high 15 points off 10 kills, three blocks, and two aces, while Baron had 11 spikes and two blocks to keep PLDT as the lone unbeaten squad in the preseason with a 4-0 record.
PLDT’s Keisha Bedonia. —PVL PHOTO
“Our teamwork really showed. We just played properly and brought out everything we’ve been working on in training. It’s nice to see all our hard work paying off,” said Baron in Filipino.
Kianna Dy celebrated her 30th birthday in Cebu with nine points as PLDT became the second squad to advance to the quarterfinals with Pool B leader Cignal (4-1). Mika Reyes also scored nine, while Jovy Prado added seven, with Kim Fajardo pacing them with 18 excellent sets.
“That’s really something we prepared for, just like in previous games. Not just activating the middles on offense. When our blocking is on point, it flows smoothly from the floor defense to our counter-attack. I’m proud of how our middles stepped up,” said PLDT coach Rald Ricafort after his team nailed 13 blocks in the match.
Savi Davison also made her comeback from a break and checked in late in the third set, scoring two points in her first two touches for a 22-15 spread.
However, PLDT committed a couple of errors that allowed Nxled to cut it down to four, 23-19, before Kiesha Bedonia stopped the bleeding to reach match point. Lyann De Guzman and Jaycel Delos Reyes saved two points, but Bedonia drilled the match-winning kill that landed inside the Chameleons’ line.
“Condition-wise, (Savi) is okay. It’s just the reintegration that’s ongoing. The system also changed a bit due to lineup matchups, but she’s slowly getting back. There’s still a bit of eagerness in her game, but once she returns to being the scoring machine she used to be, that’ll really help us a lot,” said Ricafort.
PLDT guns for a pool stage sweep against Galeries Tower on Sunday at 4 p.m. to wrap up its Cebu trip.
After getting stranded after Monday’s practice due to a flood caused by the inclement weather, PLDT came out firing with a 15-2 start off Baron’s block on Ebon en route to a 14-point domination to take the opening set.
Nxled took the early lead in the second set, but Baron took charge to pull away with an 18-13 spread. Reyes put on the finishing touches with back-to-back points for a two-set advantage.
The Chameleons absorbed their first loss, sliding to a 3-1 record, till hoping to seal the last outright quarterfinal berth from their group against the Farm Fresh Foxies on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
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EJ Cariño was the lone double-digit scorer for Nxled with 11 points off the bench, while De Guzman had nine points.
