THEY’RE IN CHARGE: Akari repulses Capital1’s uprising

Akari weathered a late resistance by Capital1 to complete a 25-9, 25-17, 26-24, sweep for back-to-back wins in the 2024-2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Ivy Lacsina and Eli Soyud delivered the goods for the Chargers, who came back from two points down in the extended third set to finish the lopsided match in one hour and 38 minutes.

Towering winger Lacsina hammered all of her 15 points on attacks and was active on the defensive end with four excellent receptions for Akari’s fifth victory in nine outings tied with idle Chery Tiggo.

“We just tried to help each other. We tried to be patient (in the third set) and just followed what coach Taka [Minowa] wanted us to execute in that situation,” Lacsina said.

Soyud added 12 points coming from nine kills, three kill blocks and an ace while Faith Nisperos added eight points including the game-winning hit for the Chargers, who saw the return of middle blocker Ced Domingo back from a knee injury.

Facing a set point disadvantage, 22-24, in the third frame, Lacsina took advantage of the Solar Spikers’ over-reception for an easy kill to save a point. An overreaching violation was called against Capital1 setter Iris Tolenada which forced a deuce.

Fifi Sharma scored the last of her six points off a well-timed kill block over former Charger Trisha Genesis to push Akari at match point before Nisperos’ closing hit.

Minowa felt that despite Akari’s crushing of Capital1, his team learned a thing or two from the young squad in terms of character and fighting spirit.

Despite getting a whipping in the first two sets, the Solar Spikers gave the Chargers a scare and even threatened to deny them a first-ever straight sets win.

“This is going to be a long conference and also we are still on the elimination day so at least we have a chance to challenge a different system. I want to challenge (them) during the game not only during practice because that’s what we’ve been doing in practice,” Minowa said.

“Capital1 is really good. They showed their fighting spirit until the end, even after getting routed in the first set, 25-9. That’s what we need to learn from them.”

The Solar Spikers suffered their fourth straight loss — all in straight sets — to drop to a 1-7 slate.

Genesis, who jumped to Capital1 after the conclusion of last season’s Reinforced Conference, finished with 14 points against his former squad.

Shola Alvarez debuted with seven points while Sydney Niegos and Kat Villegas had four and three points, respectively, for Capital1.