Playing in its first international tournament, PLDT knows that it will have to step up big-time in order to contend in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Champion’s League that’s filled with high-caliber teams.
That’s why even after taking a 26-24, 25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 15-9 loss at the hands of powerhouse Thai crew Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC on Tuesday at PhilSports Arena, the High Speed Hitters are seeing a very thick silver lining moving forward.
“[What we are doing] is paying off little by little,” seasoned libero and captain Kath Arado said, proud of pushing the rock-solid Thais to the limit before dropping to 1-1 to finish second in Pool D that sealed a quarterfinal clash with Pool A top seed Zhetysu VC on Thursday.
“That’s what we said in the pregame, to just give their all regardless of the result and we’re okay with that,” coach Rald Ricafort said. “There isn’t a team that plays at a higher level than a champion team from Thailand, so we played well and we’re proud of our performance.”
The Thais will be the problem of another local squad in Creamline in the quarterfinals, after the Cool Smashers finished second when Zhetysu VC delivered another masterclass performance in a 25-10, 25-15, 25-11 dismantling of Al Naser that left the Jordanian squad winless in their group.
The Kazakhstan champions were in control from start to finish, overwhelming the Jordanians and leaving no window for resistance as they capped pool play with an unblemished record—fueling their momentum heading into the quarterfinals.
Creamline also wound up with a 1-1 record for No. 2 in its pool, with Al Naser, which also lost in straight sets to the Cool Smashers, finishing winless.
“I think it just goes to show that the Philippines can compete,” Savi Davison said after finishing with 25 points to lead PLDT, which lost an 8-7 lead in the fifth set. “They (Thais) were, I think [bronze medalists] in their league so it’s a big deal for us to push them to five (sets).”
Big early deficit
The six-time champions showed their might early, racing to a two-set lead using great floor defense paired with powerful hits.
PLDT then doggedly clawed back to draw level as Wilma Salas helped a great deal.
“It’s a good experience to be competing in this league and play against international teams,” said Kim Kianna Dy after scoring 12 points. “Very happy with how we played, that we were able to push it to five sets. So for us, we saw that we can play with them,”
“To some degree, we gained a lot of experience,” Ricafort said. “But our players always want to compete and improve every game.
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“We’ll continue doing this. We’re close [to what we want to achieve], and we’re doing okay,” he said. “We know that we will level up because this tournament requires it.” INQ
