After steering the High Speed Hitters to a flawless championship run across the season’s first two conferences, Ricafort is set to be honored as Coach of the Year at the upcoming second PVL Press Corps Awards Night on May 30.
The High Speed Hitters stormed through the inaugural PVL on Tour without dropping a match, securing the franchise’s first professional championship before carrying that momentum into the Invitationals.
By the end of the run, PLDT had built an impressive 15-game winning streak — a stretch that established the club as one of the league’s new standard-bearers.
Ricafort’s influence extended beyond tactics. Under his leadership, PLDT evolved into one of the PVL’s most disciplined and balanced teams after previously struggling to sustain deep playoff success.
The veteran coach collected 11 total points in the Coach of the Year voting, drawing an average of 7.8 media votes and 3.2 team votes to finish ahead of former Cignal mentor Shaq Delos Santos and Sherwin Meneses of Creamline.
His steady climb with the franchise became more evident throughout the season. PLDT first secured a fourth-place finish in the Reinforced Conference before capturing its first-ever bronze medal in the All-Filipino Conference, signaling that the team’s championship breakthrough was no longer a one-conference surprise but part of a larger progression.
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Rald Ricafort is dialed in for success with the PLDT High Speed Hitters to be named the PVL Coach of the Year at the 2026 Pilipinas Live PVL Press Corps Awards Night.#PVLPCAwardsNight #PVL2026 pic.twitter.com/H1Sym0Dy5d
— PVL Press Corps (@PVLPressCorps) May 20, 2026
Still, while PLDT emerged as the season’s biggest riser, the recent conference champion, Creamline Cool Smashers once again reminded the league why their dynasty continues to define the PVL era.
After enduring one of the rarest dips in their dominant run, the Cool Smashers answered every question about their staying power by reclaiming the spotlight with their 11th championship.
That resilience earned Creamline its second straight Team of the Year award at the annual rites. Cool Smashers finished with 10.4 total points in the voting, 6.0 from media members, and 4.4 from team votes which is comfortably ahead of both PLDT and Cignal.
For perhaps the first time in years, the Cool Smashers entered a conference without the aura of inevitability. The rest of the league had caught up considerably, with deeper rosters, stronger imports, and more organized systems challenging Creamline’s long-standing supremacy.
Even with the return of stars like Bernadeth Pons, Jia de Guzman, and Jema Galanza, the road back to the top was anything but smooth. Creamline found itself pushed into multiple do-or-die situations during the 2026 All-Filipino Conference, while Cignal repeatedly threatened to break the team’s grip on the title.
But when the pressure intensified, the Cool Smashers leaned on the championship composure built through years of winning.
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