PLDT aced its final assignment before the title game with a 24-26, 25-17, 25-17, 25-14 win over ZUS Coffee in the 2025 PVL Invitational on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The High Speed Hitters extended their franchise-best win streak to 12 by knocking the Thunderbelles out of podium contention without a win in four games.
Making the feat-extending win possible was Savi Davison's near triple-double of 26 points, 12 digs and seven receptions.
READ: Kobe Shinwa sets up clash with Chery Tiggo for last finals seat
Behind Kim Fajardo's 23 excellent sets were a 13-piece for Kianna Dy and back-to-back 11-point performances from multi-awarded middle blockers Mika Reyes and Dell Palomata.
Having swept all seven of its preseason games, PLDT now has a chance to sweep two PVL tournaments in a row and win 13 games in a span of two months.
It now awaits the winner of the Chery Tiggo versus Kobe Shinwa University clash set on Friday.
At stake for the preseason champions is the chance to become only the second team after Creamline to win back-to-back titles in the league’s eight-year history.
Like the Cool Smashers, they become the second team to sweep a preliminary round of a PVL tournament on multiple occasions.
Ready for the last dance
PLDT nearly put a stop to ZUS Coffee's first-set surge by erasing the winless side's two set points through Davison and rookie winger Alleiah Malaluan's back-to-back hits.
But mainstay spikers Wielyn Estoque (15 points) and Kate Santiago (nine points) weren't ready to call it quits yet as they threw a one-two punch of their own to steal a set away from the preseason champions.
It became a full PLDT takeover the rest of the way, one where it even grabbed a 10-point lead in the fourth set to seal their comeback win.
"'Wag lang talagang masyadong malayo 'yung tingin muna. 'Yung respect sa kalaban, 'yung complacency, kailangan talagang tanggalin at kailangan talaga i-push kasi sagad na sagad na talaga 'yung mga tao," said PLDT head coach Rald Ricafort.
"Happy kami na lalo na with Dell [Palomata] na napakawalan, nagagamit na namin siya so may extra boost ng energy para sa'min."
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