By NIKOLE JAVIER
Royse Tubino was on fire all-game long as PLDT shocked F2 Logistics, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference on Saturday, July 22, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Tubino led all scorers with 20 points built on 18 attacks, one block and one service ace which were enough to pull the rug from under the Cargo Movers who fell to 1-2 in the carryover semis standings.
“Happy that we were able to win. Tuloy-tuloy lang ang t’yaga namin sa isa’t-isa. Pero talagang pinaghihirapan namin lahat ito sa training,” said Tubino.
The win enabled PLDT to soothe the pain of its straight-set loss to the Cignal HD Spikers.
The Cargo Movers opened their semis campaign with a painful five-set loss to defending champion Creamline last Thursday and that seemed to be the reason only Myla Pablo was the lone bright spot for the team.
Pablo settled for a 10-point output after a 27-hit explosion against Creamline.
In contrast, Tubino got significant support Fiola Ceballos, Dell Palomata and Mika Reyes backed her up with nine, eight and six points, respectively
PLDT nearly blew a huge lead in the first set that had F2 Logistics pull within, 20-21. But the High Speed Hitters recovered in time and scored four of the last five points and went on to dominate the next two sets and tie their victim at 1-2 in the tight, single round semis battle.
In the final classification match of the mid-year conference, Caitlin Viray dropped a career best to help Choco Mucho finish in seventh place with a 25-20, 26-24, 25-15 rout of Chery Tiggo.
This time, it was Viray who topscored for the Flying Titans with 22 points on 17 attacks, three blocks and two service aces while Sisi Rondina contributed 15 points highlighted by 14 attacks.
The eight-ranked Crossovers were paced by the trio of Mylene Paat, Pauline Gaston and Eya Laure in the losing effort.
