Capital1 ends its run in the preliminaries with a win. PVL Media Bureau
MANILA — Amid the intensified battle for better seedings, Capital1 upped its game and passed the test that is Galeries, 12-25, 29-27, 25-19, 25-18, in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Solar Spikers will conclude the two-round preliminaries with 4-4 win-loss card and 13 points, just above Akari which also has a 4-4 record and 12 points, and below Cignal (5-3, 13 points).
They had a slow start, but the Bella Belen-led squad managed to overcome that, bouncing back in a fierce extended Set 2 after getting dismantled in the opening canto, 12-25.
READ: PVL: Trebichavska lifts Cignal past defending champion Creamline in 5-set battle
Just when Galeries import Jelena Cvijovic tied the ballgame at 27-all in Set 2, Belen was there for the through-the-block kill that put Capital1 on set point, as Sydney Niegos won the joust on the net to get the team on board, 29-27.
Riding on that, Capital1 edged out Galeries in the succeeding frame with a comfortable lead, capped by a Sasha Bytsenko kill off the hands of Roselle Baliton for a 2-1 set lead.
And it was all Solar Spikers in the final frame, as their lead ballooned to 18-9 midway that dictated the tone of the rest of the game.
The Highrisers saved two match points in the endgame, but Bytsenko was there for the match-winner, for a total of 35 points that were done mostly on attacks, adding seven excellent receptions.
Belen, as usual, did her part in the offense and defense with 14 points and 15 excellent digs, while Nikka Yandoc stepped up with 19 excellent sets to go with six excellent digs, and was named Player of the Game.
On the other hand, Galeries is exiting the year-ending tourney without a victory, going winless in eight matches. They only clinched two sets the whole tournament — the second being Set 1 this game.
Cvijovic totalled 18 points in their last game, while France Ronquillo had 12 markers.