PLDT tries to restore order against the red-hot Farm Fresh after its 15-game winning streak was shattered when the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference returns to Ynares Center Montalban on Saturday.

Licking the wounds of their first defeat since sweeping the PVL on Tour and Invitational with a shocking 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 loss to the All-Filipino Cignal on Tuesday, the High Speed Hitters seek payback at 6:30 p.m.

More than their shattered winning streak, PLDT coach Rald Ricafort emphasized the learning from their previous loss.

“We were lucky that our process led to 15 straight wins, but that’s not always how life works. Eventually, we all have to come back down,” said Ricafort. “At least now, it already happened. The pressure is off. The outside noise and distractions are out. We’ll go back to doing the work we know we need to do.”

“Honestly, we haven’t really been thinking about the win streak this whole conference. When Savi (Davison) was asked about it, she said the streak she remembered most was from Capital1. For our team, the winning streak doesn’t matter. Those wins were done. People just emphasize it because it looks nice,” he added.

But standing in their way are the Foxies, the lone unbeaten team in Pool A with a 3-0 record.

“The growth is tremendous. That was the plan and the project to work for five months. As we talked about during the summer, it was for many people kind of learning the game from scratch, making a lot of changes. And that was the process that was needed in order to try to become contenders at the higher level,” said Farm Fresh coach Alessandro Lodi.

Lodi continues to bank on Belgian star hitter Eli Rousseaux, who is fresh from a 36-point outing, and a stacked local cast with Ces Molina, Trisha Tubu, and setter Alohi Robins-Hardy.

PLDT’s three-time PVL champion hopes their tough setback will light the fire under Savi Davison, Anastasiia Bavykina, Kath Arado, Kim Fajardo, Majoy Baron, Dell Palomata, and Kianna Dy.

“Whether you have imports or not, you can’t win if everyone isn’t in top shape. That’s what we keep telling the players, we don’t want to rely on just one or two people. Today’s game was a big lesson, and I know the players didn’t want it to go that way. But bad games happen. We just need to take this as a real lesson,” said Ricafort.


Meanwhile, Cignal aims to build on its resurgence when it faces Nxled, still winless in three starts, in the 4 p.m. opener.