By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Rivals PLDT and Akari face off as the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference resumes on Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Spearheaded by Savi Davison, the High Speed Hitters (3-2) face the Chargers (3-3) at 6:30 p.m.
Akari prevailed, 25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 26-24, 17-15, the last time they met.
“We continued with individual workouts during the holiday break, and then resumed our normal routine when we came back — focusing on conditioning and court work,” PLDT coach Rald Ricafort said.
Kim Dy and Kim Fajardo are still missing in the roster due to knee injury.
“I think rivalries are so interesting. I love being part of them. It just makes everything so much better and so much heavier. You know what I mean? It makes the win sweeter, makes the losses harder,” said PLDT top gun Davison.
“In that case, like, of course I’m excited to play Akari because we have that chip on our shoulder. Like it’s something to come back for, right? We owe them one, right? So of course I’m excited, but there’s intent from the whole team, right? So I’m just trying to add to that,” she added.
Akari coach Taka Minowa, meanwhile, focused on how to make the team stronger during the break.
“We analyzed every game from last season, looking at all teams to pinpoint our own areas for improvement. Since then, we’ve been consistently working to enhance those aspects through training,” Minowa said.
He admitted that it’s unrealistic to expect significant changes in such a short period, but remains hopeful that the team can continue to progress as they approach the quarterfinals.
“Looking ahead to the end of February, I know the remaining five games will pose many challenges. However, by staying focused on our team goals and maintaining unity, we will continue to support each other as one cohesive unit,” Minowa added.
Other matches pit Farm Fresh (2-3) against Nxled (0-5) at 1:30 p.m., and Choco Mucho (3-3) against ZUS Coffee (2-3) at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, Cignal (4-1) will battle Galeries Tower (1-5) at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, followed by defending champion Creamline (4-0) against Capital1 (1-4) at 4 p.m., and Petro Gazz (5-1) against Chery Tiggo (4-2) at 6:30 p.m.
After the prelims, teams will be ranked 1 through 12 based on the FIVB Classification system.
In the qualifying round, match-ups will pair the highest and lowest-ranked teams (No. 1 vs No. 12, No. 2 vs No. 11 and so on).
Winning teams advance directly to the playoffs, while the losing teams compete in the play-in tournament. (PNA)
