Savi Davison and the PLDT High Speed Hitters during the PVL on Tour quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Savi Davison made an immediate impact in her first full game in the PVL on Tour, unleashing 28 points to send the PLDT to the semifinals after eliminating ZUS Coffee, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19, on Thursday at Philsports Arena.
Davison, who played sparingly in their last two games in Cebu, hardly missed a beat, hitting 25 kills of her 50 attack attempts, two blocks, and an ace in just an hour and 25 minutes.
READ: PVL on Tour: PLDT has added offense as Savi Davison returns in Cebu
The Filipino-Canadian spiker, who also had 10 excellent receptions, and High Speed Hitters secured their first semifinal appearance since the 2024 Reinforced Conference. They are also the the lone unbeaten team in six games.
PLDT will face the winner of the Creamline-Farm Fresh knockout game on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
PLDT High Speed Hitters’ Savi Davison during the PVL on Tour quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
“I think overall, it’s just the environment that the girls are able to give me. I feel comfortable, I feel confident with them by my side. So a huge thanks for them supporting me, whether I’m here, whether I’m elsewhere. But just the welcome back feels good,” said Davison.
“I see it every day in practice. Coming from the draft, we’re just waiting on Alleiah (Malaluan) on the outside, so there’s not much of an addition there. But Kiesha and Jovy, I’ve said this before but they gave me a hard time in practice as well and I’m not surprised that they were able to put up points while I was away.”
READ: PVL on Tour: Kianna Dy sustains form, helps PLDT remain perfect
Jovy Prado remained instrumental in Davison’s 28-point explosion, delivering 10 points and six digs. Kianna Dy chipped in eight points. Kim Fajardo tossed 19 excellent sets, as Kath Arado took care of the floor with 14 digs and 10 excellent receptions.
“Another goal of ours was to slowly reintegrate her (Sav) into the lineup when she returned. At the same time, it’s also out of respect for ZUS, especially players like Jov (Gonzaga), who have consistently been scoring double digits these past games. So we were really looking for someone to counter that, and that’s where Sav came in,” said coach Rald Ricafort in Filipino.
“It was a bonus that she was able to carry the load that’s usually shared between Kiesha (Bedonia), Jovy, Kianna, and our middles. Hopefully, we can keep improving so Sav won’t need to take that many attempts moving forward.”
AC Miner led ZUS Coffee with 13 points, highlighted by four blocks, while leading scorer Chinnie Arroyo was limited to 10 points.
The Thunderbelles came from a come-from-behind five-set win over the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Tuesday.
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“One of the adjustments we had to make was coming off back-to-back games, it’s really tough when you don’t get enough rest. But part of our goal was to not let up, even a little. We knew ZUS was used to that kind of grind. Just like in the last game, the advice was simple: control what we can, especially since we were the ones coming in with more rest. Thankfully, we were able to do that,” Ricafort said.
