So the PLDT High Speed Hitters are officially back in business. Savi Davison and company pummeled ZUS Coffee 25-20, 25-18, 25-16 on Thursday in the PVL All-Filipino Conference Pulse Series, and honestly, the scoreline never really felt in doubt after the first set.
If you've been following the PLDT vs ZUS Coffee matchup at all, you know the Thunderbelles hang their hat on size at the net. Tall middles, big block, the whole deal. Didn't matter here. The High Speed Hitters found the seams, kept the rallies alive, and walked off the floor at the Santiago City Sports Complex in Isabela with their second straight win.
Davison finds a way around the ZUS Coffee wall
Davison finished with a match-best 13 points, which is impressive on its own. More impressive? She did it against a front line built specifically to make life miserable for outside hitters.
"I think ZUS has pretty good athletes and blockers, it's our job to kind of work around it and it's a good thing we scouted them," Davison said after the match.
That's the thing about scouting, right? You can have all the height in the world, but if the other side knows where the block is going, it's just a matter of picking the right shot. Davison clearly had the book on them.
PLDT turns the tables with six kill blocks
Here's the fun part. PLDT didn't just survive ZUS Coffee's net defense — they out-blocked them. The High Speed Hitters racked up six kill blocks, and four of those came from Alas Pilipinas standout Dell Palomata.
Four kill blocks from one player is a statement. Palomata was reading the setter, timing her jumps, and making the Thunderbelles think twice about going up the middle. When your opponent's supposed strength becomes your highlight reel, that's a good night at the office.
ZUS Coffee, meanwhile, drops to 0-4 in the conference. The blocking identity is there, but the wins aren't yet.
Momentum is finally pointing the right way for PLDT
Remember how this conference started? Two straight defeats for the Manny V. Pangilinan-owned franchise. Not exactly the opening chapter you'd write for last year's PVL on Tour and Invitational champions.
Now it's two wins in a row, and the mood has flipped completely.
"Momentum is rolling and we're really doing well, hopefully it's good news from here on and we keep the streak going," Davison said.
You can hear it in the way she talks, too. That's not a player hoping things turn around — that's a player who thinks the corner has already been turned. And with Davison scoring, Palomata patrolling the net, and the scouting report clearly working, who's going to argue?
What to follow from here
The obvious question now: how long can PLDT keep this run going? They've got the pieces, they've got the belief, and they've got a schedule that suddenly looks a lot friendlier than it did two weeks ago.
For ZUS Coffee, it's about turning that blocking reputation into actual points. The athletes are there. The system is there. The finishing touch is not, at least not yet.
One thing's for sure — if the High Speed Hitters keep scouting like this, the rest of the field should probably take notes.
The original report on this match comes from philstar.com.
