PLDT’s brave stand just fell short in the end to Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima, 24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 9-15, in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena.
The six-time Thai champions clinched the top seed in Pool D and will face Pool A’s second-ranked Creamline in the knockout quarterfinals.
READ: Creamline makes AVC quarterfinals as Zhetysu ousts Al Naser Club
Savi Davison had her best game of the tournament yet with 28 points as Cuban import Wilma Salas bucked a slow start on offense to still produce 22 points.
Team captain Kath Arado manned the floor to a tee with a whopping 30 excellent digs.
"Nage-enjoy lang talaga ako sa game ngayon kasi bihira lang yung opportunity na ganito. Ine-enjoy ko and na-excite kasi ako nung nalaman ko kabracket sila," said Arado.
"Sa training pa lang, pinag-aralan ko yung gagawin nila so malaking thankful din sa mga kasama ko kasi hindi din naging madali sa akin dahil nandun sila na naka-guide din sa akin."
After dropping to second in Pool D, next up for PLDT in the playoffs is nine-time Kazakh champion Zhetysu that made short work of the Cool Smashers in their pool play duel, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17.
The High Speed Hitters gave it a proper go against one of Asia’s powerhouse clubs in the opening frame.
They even went on to reach match point first at 24-23, only to be erased by a set-clinching 3-0 blitz to snatch an early advantage in the match.
It would then turn into a one-sided second-set in the Thais’ favor who led by as many as eight in multiple occasions to move two sets to none up.
A quick third-set turnaround followed as Savi Davison carried the brunt of the scoring load on her shoulders where the High Speed Hitters led by as much as five to dodge a sweep loss.
The same story unraveled in the fourth set as Davison got much-needed help from Cuban import Wilma Salas to force sudden death for the Philippine squad.
A crucial center line fault by Kianna Dy at 8-all gave Nakhon the opening it needed to pull away with a 7-1 blitz marred by a handful of PLDT attack errors to hold the Philippine team at bay.
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