PLDT survived Galeries Tower’s hot start before dominating the next two sets en route to a 25-22, 25-6, 25-9 victory on Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Fil-Canadian Savannah Davison took charge for most parts of the match, unloading 19 points built on 16 attacks, two blocks and one ace to deliver the first win for the High Speed Hitters.

“I think we just focused on the basics. We tried to keep control on our side of the court, tried to keep our unforced errors to a minimum... I think those are keys to our win,” Davison said.

It was also a fitting debut for new recruits Kim Fajardo, who posted 11 excellent sets and finished with two points, as well as Majoy Baron, who contributed four points as PLDT coach Rald Ricafort shuffled his lineup to give all his players enough playing time.

“Happy kami na na-execute namin yung game plan nang maayos. Nasalang din yung mga bago, nakaikot yung mga player, so happy kami na naka-perfom naman lahat,” Ricafort said.

Jules Samonte also shone for the High Speed Hitters with 15 points highlighted by four aces, while Fiola Ceballos chipped in seven points.

Galeries Tower bared its offensive fangs in the opening set by firing 15 kills, but saw themselves losing steam in the second frame when PLDT banked on its rock-solid defense that limited the Highrisers to only four attacks.

The High Speed Hitters unleashed a 5-0 start and led by as many as 12, 16-4, before keeping their momentum in the third frame where they pulled away from an 8-3 lead to 18-8 and never looked back.

None from Galeries Tower scored in double figures with Norielle Ipac finishing with seven points, all from attacks, and Shola Alvarez managing only four points.