PLDT and foreign guest team Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan seek for back-to-back semifinal wins as they face separate foes in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference at the PhilSports Arena today, July 24.
The High Speed Hitters face another foreign team in Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam in the main event of the twin-bill at 6:30 p.m. while the Ablaze of Japan face the Cignal HD Spikers at 4 p.m.
PLDT finally barged into the winning column of the round robin semifinals after blanking F2 Logistics, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, last Saturday.
The High Speed Hitters improved to 1-2 with three points, tied with the Ablaze in fourth place of the standings where only the top two advance to the finals.
"Aside from the physical aspect, this semifinal round is also a mental game," said PLDT head coach Rald Ricafort, whose team banked on Royse Tubino's 20-point performance to dispatch F2.
"We have to instill the mindset of perseverance and patience to our players given this tight schedule."
PLDT faces a Kinh Bac team that lost its first PVL game, 25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 11-25, last Saturday to fellow foreign team Kurashiki, which vow to show a much improved performance to please the volleyball-loving Filipino fans.
"It was such a beautiful PVL debut experience because there are many fans and cheers. We felt the Filipino love for volleyball," said Ablaze head coach Hideo Suzuki through an interpreter.
Tamaru Asaka led the way for the Division 3 Japanese team as she pumped in 29 points against Bac Ninh.
Opposite Asaka is Ces Molina who carried the fight for Cignal with 28 points in its tough, 5-set 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 26-24, 10-15 loss to defending champ Creamline last Thursday.
The HD Spikers are in second place with a 1-2 slate and four points.