ANTIPOLO — PLDT’s red-hot win over Creamline in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference had a strong shade of green in the endgame.
High Speed Hitters head coach Rald Ricafort made late yet pivotal adjustments in the fifth set to field Kianna Dy and Kim Fajardo off the bench with their former La Salle teammates Majoy Baron and Mika Reyes.
READ: Gritty PLDT holds on late to end Creamline's streak at 19
Once the UAAP Season 78 champion quartet got back together on the court, everything moved like clockwork en route to a pulsating five-set victory.
“It really felt good to be with my former college teammates. I guess nandun pa ‘yung muscle memory to be with each other,” Dy said.
“Alam na namin kung anong gagawin together, so that really helped a lot sa end ng fifth set.”
A hotly-contested Set 5 saw Dy score her very first point as a PLDT player after a year and a half of rehabilitation from a right knee injury. It came in the form of a kill block on Creamline’s Jema Galanza to cap a mini 4-0 run midway through sudden death.
In the end, Dy had one point and Fajardo fired two aces in their brief yet important cameo, as starters Baron (15 points) and Reyes (12 points) backed Savi Davison's career-high 34-piece.
'La Salle feels' all over again
The roaring cheers of a 5,000-strong Antipolo crowd that followed amid the adrenaline rush of such a tight contest between two powerhouse teams was what Dy missed a whole lot of during her layoff.
“Kita naman na feel na feel ko (‘yung block ko). Grabe ‘yung celebration ko. It is my first point as a High Speed Hitter and my first point after being out for a long time. It really felt good and sana magtuloy-tuloy,” KKD said.
“That’s what I missed din, ‘yung mga dikitan talaga ng game and kailangan talagang manalo. The environment, the feels inside the court, I really missed that a lot after not playing for a long time.
Given they’re no strangers to pressure-packed moments back in their Lady Spikers days, Dy shared how multi-titled mentor Ramil de Jesus would always overstate the importance of ‘wanting it more’ when everything’s on the line in the home stretch.
“I guess it’s just like who really wants it more and sinong hindi bibitaw talaga. ‘Yun ‘yung mga nadala namin as former Lasallians. ‘Yun ‘yung laging (nakatatak) sa’min kasi nandun na kami,” said Dy.
“We’re at that (winning) moment already so hindi na kami bibitaw.”
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