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Kim Kianna Dy continues her triumphant return to form in the PVL on Tour.
The first half of 2025 has been a period of breakthroughs for Kim Kianna Dy.
In January, she made her emotional return to the Taraflex during the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference, playing in her first game with the PLDT High Speed Hitters after a gruelling layoff due to a knee injury.
By April, during the AVC Champions League, “KKD” made her debut in PLDT’s starting six, showing flashes of her old self as the High Speed Hitters competed against Asia’s top club teams.
KKD’s recovery would continue by July in the PVL on Tour, where she emerged as a key cog in PLDT’s dominant start without star hitter Savi Davison. Now firmly part of the starting lineup, she headlined a well-oiled machine that also included longtime teammates Kim Fajardo, Mika Reyes, and Majoy Baron.
Come August, Kim Kianna Dy would hit another breakthrough. Still at the PVL on Tour, she and PLDT were now set to make their first-ever PVL finals appearance.
Dy herself was crucial in PLDT’s long-awaited finals berth, finishing with 14 huge points to back up Savi Davison’s 34 in their come-from-behind win against the Creamline Cool Smashers during the knockout semifinals.
“Very heartwarming, kasi it’s been a long time rin since I played na ganito katagal! Coming from an injury, one and a half years. And now that we’re in the finals, super nakakataba ng puso,” an emotional Dy reflected. “And we know naman na we really worked hard for this, and now eto na talaga ‘yung chance [to win a championship].”
Having overcome her share of silent battles, Dy is just glad to be under the bright lights of the PVL finals stage, where she and PLDT have the golden chance to write a perfect ending to their dominant PVL on Tour run.
“It’s really hard mentally if coming from an injury, you feel like you’re not gonna be the same anymore. But you know? It’s all about the mental side talaga eh, you just think of it like there’s nowhere to go but up coming from an injury,” Dy said.
“Na-overcome ko na ‘yung mga ‘pains’ and everything, and now that we have a chance to win a championship, ito na talaga, and we have to work hard. To double the effort.”
Arrows up
Standing in the way of Kim Kianna Dy and PLDT’s title aspirations are the Chery Tiggo Crossovers that feature former DLSU and F2 Logistics standouts Ara Galang and Aby Maraño.
While thrilled to share the court with her former teammates, Dy knows that any hint of nostalgia will be set aside come game time this Sunday, August 17, as Chery Tiggo and PLDT lock horns for the PVL on Tour title.
“Yes, si Tyang [Aby] and si Ate Ara! Mini reunion, pero sa Sunday, hindi na kami friends!” Dy said in jest. “And I’m very happy also for them, we were able to watch a little of their game din [semifinals against Cignal], and they really fought hard for the finals spot. So let’s see sa Sunday.”
Dy, along with teammates Fajardo, Reyes, and Baron, once played with Galang and Maraño in the UAAP with DLSU, before taking their act to F2 Logistics in the Philippine Super Liga (PSL) and eventually, the PVL.
Reyes went on to join the High Speed Hitters in 2022, and was followed by the Dy-Baron-Fajardo trio after F2 Logistics’ disbandment in 2023. Galang and Maraño, meanwhile, opted to sign with the Crossovers ahead of the 2024 PVL season.
“Yeah, I’ve experienced seeing them on the other side of the court, but you know? Everything happens for a reason, I guess we were really meant to go our separate ways. And ayon, it’s gonna be nice to play against them,” she said.
With only one more win needed for the PVL on Tour title, Dy knows that it is now up to her and PLDT to give it their all against the Crossovers.
“We don’t really think na, oh we’re undefeated. Yes it gives us confidence, but wala eh, eto na, knockout. Win or lose talaga ‘yung finals, so we don’t really think that we’re undefeated. So clean slate, may the best team win.”
Images courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.