SCORING has long been SAVI Davison's role while leading PLDT’s front line over a year into her Philippine stint.
Not this time though. The ultra-talented Davison has also become a defensive force and a better all-around player following the arrival of 34-year-old Cuban ace Wilma Salas.
READ: Why PLDT stuck with two imports instead of fielding maximum three
A former PVL best import with Petro Gazz, Salas delivered a swift 10-point, 15-dig double-double in a victorious 25-19, 25-12, 25-12 PLDT debut in pool play of the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League on Sunday.
For her part, Davison top-scored for the team with 14 markers.
Despite her big contribution, Davison feels relieved that this time, the scoring chores have been distributed and that she no longer has to be consumed with thoughts of "I must score" everytime she is on the court.
She has Salas to thank for that new outlook.
“It’s nice not to have that ‘I must score’ feeling all the time and just set the pace on my own, in terms of how I play. Now, I can just focus on other things and help the team entirely,” Davison said.
“Midway through the game, I told myself I just wanted to focus more on defense and passing. Typically, that’s not something that really goes through my mind in the PVL, it’s usually towards offense.”
In the recently concluded 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference, Davison produced 296 points in prelims play (26.9 per game). It was the highest prelims scoring output by any player in the PVL’s eight-year history.
The Fil-Canadian winger went on to lead the league in spiking as one of the conference’s two best outside hitters (39.35 percent success rate).
She was also fourth in blocking (0.63 blocks per set) and fifth in receiving (27.98 percent efficiency) — second among non-liberos behind Creamline’s Jema Galanza (30.74 percent efficiency).
Savi's Asian debut
This time, in her first international tournament representing a nation rather than just a club in a domestic league, the 26-year-old spiker made it a point not to drown herself with sky-high expectations against Asia’s best squads.
“I’ve just played in different countries. I’ve played the type of volleyball kind of all over, but I haven’t just played with the flag [on my chest],” Davison said.
“I was kind of going to it, not expecting anything out of the ordinary, just a simple game, try to keep it back to the basics.
“Like coach [Rald Ricafort] said beforehand, it’s the same game. It’s going to look the same out of system, passing-wise, serving-wise, so we just tried to take control of our side of the court and I think we did a good job.”
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