PLDT goes full speed vs Cignal; Akari stuns F2

MANILA, Philippines — “Keep fighting.”

Drawing strength from the battlecry used by coach George Pascua, PLDT overcame Cignal HD in a battle between sister teams, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, yesterday and breathed life to its semifinals bid in the PVL Reinforced Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We knew our lead could be overhauled so I kept telling them to keep on fighting,” said Pascua after claiming their third victory against four defeats.

The High Speed Hitters did it with high-scoring Elena Samoilenko at the forefront of the attack with a match-best 26 points, 22 coming from attacks and the others off blocks.

PLDT’s win was sealed when its video challenge against Cignal skipper Rachel Anne Daquis’ back row kill ended up successful. It was established the veteran spiker committed an attacking fault.

The celebration will be momentary though as PLDT would need to win its last game against No. 2 Chery Tiggo (5-2) tomorrow at the MOA Arena.

“It’s still possible so we will continue to take advantage of our chances and fight for it,” said Pascua.

For Samoilenko, working harder would be paramount.

“We need to work harder to win,” said the power-hitting Russian, coming off a masterful 20-hit performance in a 25-11, 25-21, 25-19 smashing of Akari last week.

Dell Palomata chipped in 15 points while Mika Reyes and Toni Basas added 11 and 10 hits, respectively.

The HD Spikers dropped to 3-3 and, like their siblings, would need to beat the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers on Saturday at the Big Dome and the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Tuesday at the PhilSports Arena to stay in the semis race.

PLDT blew a five-point lead midway in the third set and missed completing a crucial sweep but leaned on a fiery seven-point binge in the fourth to seize control at 21-15. The HD Spikers proved far from being finished, battling back at 21-23 on a Chay Troncoso block off Samoilenko that capped a 6-2 counter-attack.

In the nightcap, Akari played the spoiler’s role to the hilt as it stunned F2 Logistics, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, to cap its campaign with a 3-5 mark.

Import Prisilla Rivera led the way with 32 points on 29 kills for the Chargers, who dealt a big blow to the Cargo Movers semis campaign after dropping to a third defeat against the same number of triumphs.

It was a heartbreaking setback for F2, which came to the game as the favorite after stunning title favorite Creamline the last time out.