PLDT kept things going in pursuit of a finals slot, putting away Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23, to move to solo third in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference semifinal round at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Monday.
The High Speed Hitters survived a tight opening set scuffle that could’ve gone either way, posted a walkaway win in the second then pulled away midway in the third before quashing the Vietnamese late rally on Rachel Austero’s clutch hits, including a match-clinching power tip, to complete their key one-hour, 35-minute triumph.
It mirrored its three-set victory over F2 Logistics last Saturday as the High Speed Hitters evened their card at 2-2 and stayed in the finals race, moving behind Creamline (3-0) and Kurashiki (2-0) heading to their last semis outing against the Japanese side on Thursday.
Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh, which bowed to Kurashiki in four in the visiting squads’ face-off last Saturday, dropped to 0-2 and, like Cignal, which earlier succumbed to Kurashiki in three sets, looked headed to contending for the battle for the bronze instead.
But just when the High Speed Hitters thought they had heard the last of the Vietnamese after the seldom-used Austero, who didn’t see action against the Cargo Movers, scored on a hit and a kill block to put the team at match point, 24-19, the latter struck for four straight hits before PLDT coach Rald Ricafort sued for time.
That sort of broke Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh’s momentum as Austero, gaining the trust and confidence of Ricafort and playaker Rhea Dimaculangan, soared for the clincher off Dimaculangan’s quick set play.
Fiola Ceballos continued to shine for PLDT in the absence of injured Jovie Prado and with top hitter Me-an Mendrez still far from regaining her top form, finishing with 11 points on eight attacks and three aces. But it was Austero who took the spotlight at endgame with her variety of hits.
Austero, who came in late in the third, wound up with four points.
Honey Royse Tubino came away with 12 points while Mich Morente matched Ceballos’ output and Dell Palomata and Dimaculangan added seven and five points, respectively, for the High Speed Hitters.
“Happy for the game, nagawa naman yung pinag-planuhan namin, also happy for the players who stepped up off the bench,” said Ricafort.
Huong Nguyen and Xuan Le led Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh’s charge with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Quynh Pham and My Pha combined for 15 points but the Vietnamese failed to come up with a strong finishing kick in the first and third sets and found themselves facing the task of sweeping their last three games to stay alive.
They begin their uphill battle against the Cool Smashers at resumption of the grueling semis phase on Tuesday as they collide at 4 p.m. before the Cargo Movers and the surging Japanese face off at 6:30 p.m.
Games are aired on PVL.ph, One Sports, and One Sports+ with live streaming on Smart Livestream, Cignal Play and Pilipinas Live.
