As the race for the No. 1 spot heats up, PLDT delivered the kind of statement win that showed which team deserves to sit atop the standings.

The High Speed Hitters recovered from a tough endgame slip in the opener and roared back with overwhelming force in the next three sets, leaning on another explosive all-around performance from Savi Davison to floor the Chery Tiggo Crossovers, 26-28, 25-12, 25-16, 25-13, and surge into the PVL Reinforced Conference lead at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Rizal on Saturday.

Davison soared to a new career-high 36 points, punctuating her masterpiece with a powerful off-the-block hit that ended the one-hour and 42-minute showdown. The win not only improved PLDT to 6-1 but, more importantly, vaulted the High Speed Hitters to the coveted No. 1 position – an advantage that could prove crucial as the knockout quarterfinals loom.

“It’s not really about how much you score. I just wanted to win,” said Davison, downplaying her tremendous offensive explosion while giving due credit to Chery Tiggo’s resilience.

“Chery Tiggo is a strong team. We came into this game knowing they were going to put up a fight. We just had to control our side. We trained hard this week, came in physically prepared, and handled our end well so we could put up a fight too,” she added.

From the way the last three sets unfolded, “fight” was an understatement – PLDT dominated with its might.

The victory created a three-way tie at the top with Farm Fresh and ZUS Coffee. But the High Speed Hitters grabbed the No. 1 spot with superior set ratio points although they would need no less than a sweep of the Petro Gazz Angels on Thursday top secure the top seed and a highly favorable quarterfinal pairing.

Chery Tiggo, meanwhile, fell to the brink of elimination at 2-5. To survive, the Crossovers will have to sweep the Foxies and hope both the Angels and the Choco Mucho Flying Titans stumble in their remaining games.

Davison capped her superb all-around performance with 10 excellent digs and 14 receptions, while import Nastya Bavykina delivered 16 points and 10 receptions. Kim Dy contributed nine points, Dell Palomata added seven, including four blocks, and both Majoy Baron and setter Kim Fajardo chipped in five apiece.

Fajardo also masterfully steered PLDT’s offense with 22 excellent sets, outshining counterpart Alina Bicar, who tallied 14.

After her tournament-best 41-point explosion against Capital1, Yuni Batista settled for 27 points this time but struggled to find solid support from the locals, with Ara Galang finishing with nine and Pauline Gaston adding only four.

After a shaky start in the third frame, PLDT quickly rediscovered its firepower behind Davison, who sustained her blistering rhythm with an even hotter finish. She delivered five of PLDT’s next seven points, turning a tentative 15-12 edge into a commanding 22-14 lead that sucked the life out of the Crossovers.

Not even the constant urging of Chery Tiggo coach Norman Miguel could spark a meaningful push. The Crossovers looked more preoccupied with finding answers for the next set rather than rebuilding momentum to try and extend the match.

PLDT, however, had no plans of letting this one reach a decider. They came out in the fourth set breathing fire, racing to a 10-3 start that put Chery Tiggo on the ropes. The Crossovers briefly stirred to life with a five-point run – capped by an Ara Galang block on Bavykina that trimmed the gap to 10-13 – but that would be their final stand.

The High Speed Hitters responded with the composure of a squad eyeing the No. 1 seed. Palomata halted the rally with a crisp, quick attack, Davison followed with a sharp crosscourt strike, and Chery Tiggo’s Aby Maraño barreled through a long attack to end a fiery rally to restore a 16-10 PLDT advantage at the second technical timeout.

From there, the High Speed Hitters tightened the noose. Their floor defense sharpened, their transition game flowed, and their firepower became too overwhelming for the fading Crossovers.

PLDT controlled most of the opening set, but Chery Tiggo refused to fold, clawing back from a 12-16 deficit and repeatedly erasing set points – none bigger than Gaston’s successful block-touch challenge that tied the frame at 26.

Then came a sudden swing of momentum.

In the clutch, it was the High Speed Hitters who unraveled – particularly Bavykina, whose back-to-back shaky receptions opened the door for Chery Tiggo’s stunning turnaround. Her first miscue prevented PLDT from mounting a clean attack, handing the Crossovers a free ball that Batista hammered from the back row to give Chery Tiggo its first set point.

Still rattled on the next play, Bavykina faltered again on serve-receive, forcing Davison into an off-balanced, improvised hit. The ball absorbed too much power on contact and sailed wide, sealing the set and gifting Chery Tiggo a crucial head start.

But PLDT quickly struck back, with Bavykina redeeming herself in emphatic fashion. The Russian hitter fired three aces during a decisive 4-0 blitz that stretched the High Speed Hitters’ 10-7 edge into a comfortable seven-point cushion.

From there, Davison took center stage. The explosive open hitter delivered three straight conversions, capped by her signature hang-time crosscourt finish, as PLDT maintained full control at 17-9. The High Speed Hitters never looked back, cruising to a lopsided second-set win – a stark contrast to the extended, knife-edge opener.