Davison, PLDT open title chase with rout of Capital1
Savi Davison was a little off offensively and did a lot of damage on the other side of the net to help PLDT to a 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 sweep of Capital1 that kicked off the High Speed Hitters’ title quest in the Reinforced Conference at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Monday.
Davison had seven blocks to highlight her 22 points, making sure that PLDT got its bid for a third straight championship off on the right foot before showering praise on Capital1 rookie Bella Belen.
“At the beginning of the set, I felt like I was a little off my mark,” Davison told the Inquirer. “So I made it a point to myself during one of the timeouts just to make sure that my eyes were going to the right place and my body was in the right place.”
“Just paying that extra little attention to where my hands are over the net and stuff like that,” she said of her seven kill blocks.
She then threw accolades at Belen, the No. 1 overall pick.
“She has a lot of energy. She’s a very smart player,” Davison said of the former National U ace in the UAAP. “She will keep going at it. Nothing really seems to bring her down, so that’s really good. I think she’ll just get better with time, so I’m excited to see where the PVL takes her.”
The game against PLDT was Belen’s “real” pro debut, where she finished with 13 points and nine digs.
Belen had 20 points last week in a game against Choco Mucho, a 33-31, 26-24, 25-23 loss that was ordered replayed because both teams played without imports.
Russian Anastasiia Bavykina debuted for PLDT with 15 points, scattering 10 kills, three blocks, and two aces. Kianna Dy was also instrumental with 10 points. Kim Fajardo had 17 excellent sets, while Kath Arado made 14 digs.
The High Speed Hitters, who swept the PVL on Tour and Invitational, extended their winning streak to 14 games with the Pool A conquest of Capital1 and Belen.
And Davison remains hungry for more.
“I think it’s a whole new group of competition, so it’s kind of new, right? The excitement is there,” she said. “It’s new teams all over because of the imports and stuff like that, so it’s not so much the same as like an All-Filipino Conference or the Invitational or the PVL on Tour.
“So it brings that kind of like motivation, like this is a whole new realm of things that we can do and accomplish.”
Sasha Bytsenko led the Solar Spikers with 20 points and 12 excellent receptions in a losing cause.
