Fans leave Bell awed; Samoilenko happy over PLDT improvement
It didn’t take too long for returning imports Khat Bell of the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and Lena Samoilenko of the PLDT Home Fibr High Speed Hitters to notice the positive changes in the Philippine volleyball scene.
Bell praised the growth of volleyball fanfare in the country. She compared the crowds from her experience as an import for Petron Blaze Spikers in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix last 2018 to 2020 to the crowds in the PVL now.
“Of course, we’ve always had some really good crowds. But now, in these games, every crowd is showing up,” the outside hitter told the Inquirer on Saturday after Chery Tiggo swept the Nxled Chameleons, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23.
Bell even had a special shoutout to the Creamline Cool Smashers for their part in attracting large audiences. The Cool Smashers are also part of Pool A for the Reinforced Conference alongside Chery.
“Creamline has the most famous renowned players so that helps with bringing [the crowd] into the PVL and the fans are just insane. It’s awesome to play in for sure,” Bell said.
Samoilenko also talked about changes, in particular on the improvement of the PLDT team. This is Samoilenko’s second year as a PLDT import, her first being the Reinforced Conference in 2022.
In 2023, the Reinforced Conference was changed to a second All-Filipino Conference due to conflicts in the International Volleyball Federation calendar which complicated the signing of imports.
Samoilenko is now joined by setter Kim Fajardo and middle blocker Majoy Baron, who played for F2 Logistics before.
The Russian outside hitter has been adjusting well since she rejoined the team.
“I am enjoying my team. My team supports me every time. And, every time we are doing positive [things],” Samoilenko said.
Both imports have been contributing massive numbers to their teams. Bell was the best scorer for Chery in their wins against the Farm Fresh Foxies and the Nxled Chameleons.
Meanwhile, Lena Samoilenko was selected as the Player of the Week by the PVL Press Corps for her stellar performance in PLDT’s wins against Creamline and the Galeries Tower Highrisers.
