PLDT finished fifth in five of the 10 conferences it has played in the PVL.
That semifinals hurdle it couldn’t get past for so long has finally been cleared in the 2025 PVL on Tour.
READ PVL FINALS: First PLDT title or second Chery Tiggo crown?
The High Speed Hitters are finals-bound for the first time in franchise history, with a chance to win a maiden title against Chery Tiggo.
For two of PLDT’s top guns in Kianna Dy and Mika Reyes, reaching the championship round of a PVL tournament carries added weight and personally means something more for them.
KKD had to take 559 days off her volleyball career to recover from a lingering knee injury she sustained during the tail-end of F2 Logistics’ time in the league before its eventual disbandment.
She was even signed by PLDT while still injured and had to wait for months and conferences before seeing action for her new team once and for all.
Now that she’s past the mental toll of a prolonged injury setback, a much-stronger Dy is determined to repay that trust and deliver championship gold that has eluded her and the High Speed Hitters for nearly half a decade.
“It’s really hard mentally if coming from an injury, you feel like you’re not gonna be the same anymore. It’s all about the mental side talaga eh. You just think of it like there’s nowhere to go but up coming from an injury,” Dy said.
“Na-overcome ko na yung mga pains and everything. Now that we have a chance to win a championship, ito na talaga. We have to work and double the effort.”
Meanwhile, Reyes last lifted a trophy back in the 2018 Grand Prix with the dynastic Petron Blaze Spikers in the defunct Philippine Superliga (PSL).
Although it’s now been three years that Reyes fell short in the final few hurdles to a title with PLDT, not once did she doubt that the High Speed Htiters’ time will soon come — a matter of when than if.
“Ang laking bonus sa’kin ‘to na may another opportunity na kailangan naming malagpasan,” Reyes said.
“Thankful naman ako kahit na kinapos yung mga naging rank namin in the past conferences. Pero this time, sabi nga nu’ng isa naming kasama, ‘grabe, ang tagal ko na dito sa PLDT, ngayon lang ako nakapasok sa finals.’
“Na-remind din ako na ‘oo nga no’ at kinailangan kong i-remind din sarili ko na matagal ko na rin, matagal na namin ‘tong hinintay.”
'Almost' and 'what-if' no more
For a team that has endured one too many heartbreaks in years past, having soared high in previous conferences but never enough to reach the summit, this preseason final means everything.
There's no letting go now of such a long-overdue opportunity for the team's two leaders in head coach Rald Ricafort and team captain Kath Arado.
"[Lagi naming tinatanong kung] ano pa bang mga kulang namin nung mga past experiences namin na almost na [sanang makakapasok sa finals]," Arado said.
"Yun pa rin talaga yung naging motivation namin at yun talaga yung hugot pa rin ng team."
Ricafort added: "Yung mindset lang din na talagang dadaanan namin [yung mga challenges] eh. Siguro yung purpose niya lang talaga is patibayin kami, nakahit may mga ganung nangyayari before, naging motivation nalang talaga yung mindset ng mga players na iraos itong conference na 'to."
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