PLDT finally got off the mark in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series, overcoming Capital1 in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21, to snap its two-game skid on Saturday despite playing without head coach Rald Ricafort.
Under the weather, Ricafort was absent from the sidelines as the High Speed Hitters bounced back from back-to-back straight-set defeats to sister teams Nxled and Akari.
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Savi Davison spearheaded PLDT’s breakthrough with a triple-double of 28 points, 18 receptions and 10 digs, bouncing back from a five-point outing against Akari. Kianna Dy chipped in 11 points.
“I got to show up. I feel like we all kind of came into this game knowing that we had something to come back from. It’s more ourselves than anything. I'm glad that we pushed each other during practice this week,” Davison said.
Answering the call
Capital1 drew first blood in a closely-contested opening set, but PLDT responded in the second, building a lead of as many as six points before the Solar Spikers rallied to tie the set at 20-all.
The High Speed Hitters held their ground in the closing stretch, riding on Capital1’s late wave of scoring miscues to score five of the set’s final six points and level the match.
PLDT carried that surge into the third set, edging Capital1 by the same 25-21 score before completing the comeback in the fourth, again fending off the Solar Spikers’ late push to secure its first win of the conference.
Despite the loss, Bella Belen still produced a triple-double of 23 points, 10 receptions and 10 digs for Capital1 in the team’s first match of the Siklab series that did not go to five sets.
Vanie Gandler added 16 points and 16 receptions, while Erika Santos chipped in 15 markers, but their efforts were not enough to prevent the Solar Spikers from surrendering their opening-set advantage and dropping to 2-2.
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