PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters romp past Crossovers

The PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters made short work of the undermanned Chery Tiggo Crossovers, winning via sweep, 25-18, 25-19, 25-14, in a rousing start to their campaign in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Tuesday.

Chin Chin Basas, Julianne Samonte and Fiola Ceballos crisp hits, Mika Reyes’ striking running play, Dell Palomata’s quick attacks and the Power Hitters imposing control of the net proved too much for the undermanned Crossovers to overcome, leading to PLDT’s lopsided one-hour, 24-minute victory.

Chery Tiggo continued to miss the services of injured Dindin Manabat and EJ Laure, Buding Duremdes, Alina Bicar and Justine Dorog due to health and safety protocols, but the Power Hitters, who went into deep training during the break, came into the match exuding confidence and with a kind of resolve missing in their fifth-place effort in the Open Conference.

“We’ve been training hard, pushing ourselves. Winning our first game is so important but we need to practice more and polish everything,” said Reyes, who topscored for PLDT with 15 hits, mostly on running attacks. She added three blocks to likewise help anchor the team’s net defense with Palomata, who added two blocks and finished with seven points.

“We’re getting the kind of chemistry missing in the past. We wanted to start strong, and our goal was to win our first game and hope to sustain the momentum,” said PLDT coach George Pascua.

PLDT finished with 48 hits, doubling Chery Tiggo’s output and had six blocks and six aces against their rivals’ five and two, respectively, to underscore their domination of the first Open Conference champions in pro setting.

Basas went 13-of 37 on attacks and finished with 14 points while Samonte and Ceballos produced 11 and 10 hits, respectively, as the PLDT hitters scored almost at will on both sides behind playmaker Rhea Dimaculangan’s superb ball distribution.