Ricafort wins PVL Coach of the Year
Rald Ricafort’s years of near-misses with PLDT finally turned into a breakthrough season, earning him Coach of the Year honors in the Premier Volleyball League. The High Speed Hitters head coach will be formally recognized on May 30 at the 2nd Pilipinas Live PVL Press Corps Awards Night at Novotel Manila Araneta City. Ricafort led
By Staff Writer
Rald Ricafort’s years of near-misses with PLDT finally turned into a breakthrough season, earning him Coach of the Year honors in the Premier Volleyball League.
The High Speed Hitters head coach will be formally recognized on May 30 at the 2nd Pilipinas Live PVL Press Corps Awards Night at Novotel Manila Araneta City.
Ricafort led PLDT to a perfect title run across the first two conferences of the 2025–2026 PVL season.
The campaign was highlighted by a sweep of the inaugural PVL On Tour, which gave the franchise its first professional championship.
PLDT carried that momentum into the Invitationals, extending its dominance with a 15-game winning streak.
The streak marked the High Speed Hitters’ emergence as one of the league’s top contenders after several seasons of frustration and close calls.
Ricafort topped the Coach of the Year voting with 11 points.
His total was built on an average of 7.8 media votes and 3.2 team votes.
He edged former Cignal mentor Shaq Delos Santos and Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses for the award.
Under Ricafort, PLDT also finished fourth in the Reinforced Conference.
The High Speed Hitters later capped their campaign with a maiden bronze medal in the All-Filipino tilt.
The results reflected PLDT’s steady rise under Ricafort’s system, which emphasized patience, stability and player development.
The recognition also validates Ricafort’s belief that the program could eventually contend despite earlier heartbreaks.
Meanwhile, Creamline again underscored its status as the PVL’s standard of consistency and excellence.
The Cool Smashers captured their 11th PVL championship in a season that tested the strength of their dynasty.
Creamline also secured its second consecutive Team of the Year honor.
The award reinforced the Cool Smashers’ stature despite increasing parity across the league.
Creamline finished with 10.4 points in the voting.
The total included 6.0 points from media votes and 4.4 points from team ballots.
Creamline outpaced PLDT and Cignal for the Team of the Year recognition.
The PVL Press Corps Awards Night recognizes top performers and teams based on season-long achievements, media voting and team ballots.
The awards come as the PVL continues to build on the growth of professional women’s volleyball in the Philippines, where teams such as Creamline, PLDT and Cignal have helped deepen competition across conferences. (PVL)
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