When the 2025 PVL on Tour went underway, PLDT knew it would be faced with a big personnel problem.
It entered the preseason tournament without Alas Pilipinas aces Dell Palomata and No. 9 pick Alleiah Malaluan, who were not allowed to play for their mother team until October 15 under a mandate by the FIVB.
READ: In-form PLDT locks up No. 1 seed after sweep of Galeries in Cebu
Star spiker Savi Davison also took an extended break back home in Canada and returned late in the group stage.
PLDT also lost two key spikers in the offseason when Erika Santos jumped ship to Cignal while Fiola Ceballos joined ZUS Coffee.
In the absence of their star players, PLDT head coach Rald Ricafort was able to seek the commitment of those left behind to do their best against the odds.
“From du’n sa mga Alas [players] to yung mga key players na nawala sa’min, ‘yung preparation namin para dito, nag-commit sila na hindi maramdaman ‘yun,” Ricafort said.
“Lumalabas naman yung result pero nasa preliminaries pa lang. Alam naman namin na mahaba pa.”
Former PLDT skipper Mika Reyes sounded firm and strong when she said player absences aren’t to be treated as a disadvantage, but rather a challenge to be better as a team as early as the preseason.
“Lagi rin naman naming napapag-usapan ‘yan na kahit nga kulang tayo, hindi sa kulang pero may mga players na ‘di nakakapaglaro like Alleiah Malaluan, Dell Palomata, [kababalik pa lang] ni Savi [Davison], kailangan mag-double effort talaga yung players na magfill-in ng roles nila,” Reyes said.
“So far, maganda yung pinapakita ng bawat isa and dapat siguro mas maging ready pa in the future.”
Heeding the call for PLDT
Among the team’s key contributors in preseason play are the team’s current leading scorer in Kiesha Bedonia (10.4 points per game) and the returning wing duo of Jovy Prado (8.6 ppg) and Kianna Dy (8.0 ppg).
As far as the preliminaries are concerned, Ricafort is pleased with his new-look scoring core as Davison eases her way back to the starting rotation.
“’Yung improvement tsaka yung exposure dun sa dalawa lalo [Prado and Bedonia], nasagad namin,” Ricafort said.
“Sana magtuloy-tuloy ‘yung momentum tsaka malaman na ‘yung next na makakalaban namin. Hopefully, magtuloy at mabawasan na ‘yung injuries.”
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