Cast in bronze: PLDT pips Farm Fresh, makes podium finish

It wasn’t the finish PLDT envisioned to close out the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season.

But a bronze trophy on hand is already a milestone for the club.

The High Speed Hitters turned up the dial in the fifth set, blasting a decisive run to leave Farm Fresh wanting in a thrilling 25-14, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-5, Game 2 win for a sweep of the PVL All-Filipino Conference battle for third series Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s a very difficult (conference). We may have fallen short of our main goal of reaching the finals but I commend my players for fighting to get this (bronze),” said PLDT coach Rald Ricafort about the team’s first podium finish in an all-local tournament.

“We’re still thankful. It’s still a milestone for us to take third this time. What we’ve been doing is never easy. At least we still bagged bronze,” he added.

Overall, the High Speed Hitters had a fruitful season, winning back-to-back titles in the inaugural PVL on Tour and the Invitationals via an incredible sweep of both tournaments.

Savi Davison fired 19 of her 20 points off attacks and added 10 digs for the High Speed Hitters, who got their first-ever third-place finish after falling short in their first three attempts since joining the league in 2021.

“I think we were all on the same page coming out of the gate. The fourth set was kinda a struggle for us so we really wanted to show that we were capable and just the trust that we had in each other on the court and the way that we play together I think,” said Davison, who was in a jovial mood as the club heads on to a much-deserved rest after a long and exhausting season.

“It didn’t come easy but it felt really good.”

PLDT took the fight out of the Foxies with five unanswered points, shattering a 2-2 tie in the fifth set.

Another 6-1 blast gave the High Speed Hitters a comfortable 13-4 advantage.

Trisha Tubu gave the young Farm Fresh side back on the scoreboard but it came a little too late as Keisha Bedonia and Kim Kianna Dy punched in the finishing touches to wrap the two-hour, 15-minute encounter.

“I think we really worked hard for this match, and this is like our fifth game against Farm Fresh, and we really prepared and we all know that once Farm Fresh gets momentum, they’ll be tougher to beat. The fifth set went down to who wanted it more,” said Dy, who had 21 points on 14 kills, six kill blocks and an ace.

“So, we said that we must jump on them first ‘cause we don’t want them to get the momentum, and very, very happy. Like what coach said, this may not be the goal we had in mind this conference, but at least we ended on a goodnote.”

Bedonia scored 15 points off the bench in just four sets of play for PLDT, which beat the Foxies, 22-25, 25-21, 27-25, 26-28, 15-11, to open the best-of-three series last Tuesday.