Ricafort brushes off favorite tag

Head coach Rald Ricafort downplayed PLDT’s tag as one of the title favorites in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference opening on Tuesday.

Holder of the distinction as the only team in league history to sweep its way to back-to-back championships, having the High Speed Hitters’ name included in the talks of serious title contenders alongside defending champion Creamline is a no-brainer.

However, Ricafort would rather have his wards stay focused on their pursuit of a historic first import-laden tournament crown and tune out the outside noise.

“We don’t want to dwell on that,” the mentor said when asked about his wards being on the championship radar following a pair of impressive title conquests.

PLDT dominated the inaugural On Tour for the franchise’s first championship before a flawless run in the foreign guest team-flavored Invitational.    

“We’re still chasing glory and besides, the last two tournaments are already finished. It’s back to start for us,” Ricafort said.

The High Speed Hitters brought in Russian outside hitter Anastasiia Bavykina in their chase for a third consecutive championship.

Bavykina is expected to form a formidable tandem with Savi Davison and add firepower to PLDT’s already stacked wings with Kim Kianna Dy, rookie Alleiah Malaluan, Jovie Prado and Kiesha Bedonia.

PLDT has yet to win a medal in the Reinforced Conference. It finished fourth last year with Russian guest player Elena Samoilenko.

Ricafort, just like in the last two conferences, enjoys the luxury of having a healthy and lineup with middles Majoy Baron, Mika Reyes and Del Palomata manning the net, top libero Kath Arado taking care of the floor defense and setter Kim Fajardo orchestrating the offense.  

“That’s a good problem for us. We benefit from the depth of our bench. That’s one of the key points for us during the past two conferences. We had Alleiah and Dell back from Alas and add to that our import,” Ricafort said.

PLDT will begin its campaign on 13 October against Capital1 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.