PLDT extended its winning run to four after crushing hapless Gerflor, 25-8, 25-9, 25-17, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference yesterday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The High Speed Hitters made it rain from the service area, landing 14 aces on their way to a 4-1 win-loss record behind unbeaten league leaders defending champion Creamline and Petro Gazz, who sport identical 4-0 slates.
Head coach Rald Ricafort emptied his bench as 12 PLDT players logged in points with Jules Samonte and Rachel Austero leading the way with 10 points each.
“We learned our lesson in our last game against Nxled where we had a slow start. At least this time we had a great start. We also had a great service game that made it easier for us,” Ricafort said.
Savannah Davison had nine points, Fiola Ceballos had eight while Jessey de Leon and Lut Malaluan added six each for the High Speed Hitters, who hammered 45 spikes and had six kill blocks in the 71-minute clinical beating of the Defenders.
Gerflor remained winless in five games.
Jeannette Villareal, Shang Berte and Danika Gendrauli finished with four each for the Defenders.
Meanwhile, Cignal turned to veteran winger Ces Molina to bring down upset-minded Farm Fresh, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, for back-to-back wins.
Molina showcased her all-around skills, hitting 18 kills with two kill blocks for 20 points while tallying eight digs in the HD Spikers’ third win in five starts.
Cignal moved up to joint sixth tied with its previous victim idle Akari.
But coach Shaq delos Santos stressed the need for his wards to work harder to be able to measure up with the league’s top guns after being challenged by the young but aggressive Foxies before imposing their will in the last two sets and annexing the one-hour and 43-minute victory.
“I’m happy with the result but we know we still have a lot of work to do,” Delos Santos said.
“The good thing was we were able to overcome their (Foxies) challenge. But this win is a big morale boost,” Delos Santos added.
Ria Meneses posted 16 points off 13 spikes, two kill blocks and an ace for Cignal.
Vanie Gandler and Jovelyn Gonzaga scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the HD Spikers.
Farm Fresh dropped its sixth straight game in as many outings and had lost 11 in a row since joining the league in the mid-season Invitational Conference.
Trisha Tubu led the Foxies with 19 points, Kate Santiago had 14 while Rizza Cruz got 12.
Louie Romero upstaged counterpart and multi-titled Gel Cayuna, coming up with 23 excellent sets that kept the Foxies’ offense humming, particularly in the first two sets. Cayuna finished with 18.
Cignal overpowered Farm Fresh in spikes, 67-53, and had more blocks, 9-5, and aces, 3-0. But they yielded too many unforced errors, which the Foxies translated to 27 points, eight more than what they converted from their rivals’ miscues.
