Kianna Dy earned herself a victory on her birthday as the PLDT High Speed Hitters retained their spotless record on the first day of the PVL on Tour in Cebu.
CEBU CITY — Birthday girl Kianna Dy spearheaded the attack for the PLDT High Speed Hitters as they nabbed a spot in the quarterfinals of the PVL on Tour, improving to 4-0 in Pool A following a sweep of the Nxled Chameleons, 25-11, 25-17, 25-21, at the University of San Jose-Recoletos here on Saturday.
A strong start powered by crowd favorite Dy spurred PLDT’s fight that didn’t need its star hitter Savi Davison for most of the match. The Fil-Canadian was only subbed in late in the match when the High Speed Hitters were already ahead in the third set, 18-13.
The High Speed Hitters were simply too much of a wall at the net, tallying 13 blocks compared to the Chameleons' five.Three of those rejections came from the birthday girl, who had nine points overall.
[READ: Savi Davison back in uniform for PLDT in Cebu leg of PVL on Tour]
The win pushes PLDT on the cusp of a sweep of their pool games at 4-0 while handing the Chameleons their first setback of the tournament.
The High Speed Hitters rang in the opener in Cebu with a dominant start in Set 1, when they raced to a 17-3 lead thanks to inspired offense from Dy and company. Meanwhile, Majoy Baron and Mika Reyes manned the net with no mercy.
PLDT’s hot start dictated the pace of the game which forced Nxled, who were buoyed by hometown bet Krich Macaslang and promising rookie Lyann De Guzman, into the disadvantage early.
Despite the Chameleons regaining their bearings in Set 2 where they were able to play at pace with the High Speed Hitters and even took early leads in the back-and-forth canto, the mental advantage proved to be on PLDT’s side as they were able to weather the adjustments — including EJ Cariño coming off the bench.
The High Speed Hitters gained some ground in the second set when they went on a 7-2 run capped off by an ace from Reyes to seize the 15-11 lead midway through the second.
Then in Set 3, PLDT started strong with an 8-3 burst before holding off Nxled midway with a 5-1 run that gave them the 14-9 advantage and they never looked back.
Kiesha Bedonia supplied the finishing blow with a cross court hit, even as Nxled challenged the call, that was all she wrote as the replay showed that the hit was in and finished the match.
PLDT faces a quick turnaround when they face the Galeries Tower Highrisers in the same venue on Sunday.
Nxled, meanwhile, will seek a bounce back against the Farm Fresh Foxies in the other game of the Cebu leg.