PLDT High Speed Hitters’ Savi Davison during Game 2 of the PVL All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals against Choco Mucho Flying Titans. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Savi Davison left everything on the floor but it wasn’t enough to lift PLDT past the never-say-die Choco Mucho in a pair of heartbreaking five-set losses that ended their 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Davison and the High Speed Hitters couldn’t get the better of the Flying Titans in arguably the toughest bracket of the quarterfinals as the latter advanced to the semis with a 25-15, 12-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 win in Game 2 on Thursday at Philsports Arena.
HIGHLIGHTS: PVL All-Filipino quarterfinals – Choco Mucho vs PLDT, Akari vs Galeries
“No words. It was a long [conference] and we just got, I guess, the tougher bracket. But we’re not here to complain, we’re here to play,” said Davison after scoring her third 34-point outing this conference.
“It boils down to the last couple of points and they just weren’t in our favor.”
Davison was looking to complete PLDT’s comeback with a 5-1 start in the fifth set but she committed consecutive errors that gave Choco Mucho some momentum. The decider remained toe-to-toe as Davison forced a tie at 13, only for setter Mars Alba to score a crucial cut shot, followed by Sisi Rondina’s game-winning kill.
PLDT High Speed Hitters in the PVL All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals against Choco Mucho Flying Titans. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net
“Actually, my mind goes to the errors I had. It was the first couple of things, the three, four errors I had in the fifth set. It’s hard because you want to win so bad but you have to keep it on the court,” the PLDT star said. “I think just the mindset going into it, sayang. There’s not much, you know, it’s do or die. Unfortunately, we didn’t do [it].”
Davison said the feeling is heady after losing the past two games by just two points, missing the semifinals despite an 8-3 finish in the preliminary round.
READ: PVL: Savi Davison, PLDT seek better finish after Game 1 collapse
“It was actually really heavy, but mind over matter. I didn’t wanna say that out loud before the game. Understood against Sisi you have to keep your composure and you have to look okay for the rest of the team so okay, keep coming, keep coming,” she said.
“It takes a lot to swallow your own pride and be like okay and then still have it. It does physically take a little more effort but I feel like you earned to be in that position so I’m not really allowed to complain. I worked so hard to be here so I kind of accepted the burden, I guess.”
The Filipino-Canadian spiker believes that they need to continue to improve their teamwork to finally get over the hump.
“I guess it’s a team sport. It takes a village, coaches, and management to really pull through. It just goes to show that regardless of one person, you need everybody. We played really well today but like I said, it didn’t swing in our favor,” she said.
Davison looks to bounce back when PLDT represents one of the three Philippine clubs in the AVC Champions League, battling Australia’s Queensland Pirates on April 20 and Nakhon Ratchasima of Thailand on April 22 in Pool D.
“It’s a very big tournament. It’s international. It gives us an opportunity to show our talents on a different platform and that’s a really good experience to look forward to. Hopefully, we learn from this and we show out come the AVC,” she said.
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“Knowing that we’re that close, knowing that we can compete, we just gotta bring that to the AVC and hopefully, it won’t be as heart-wrenching, but it’s always an opportunity to learn.”
