Akari may have fallen short in its quest for a breakthrough crown in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference but the experience it gained will be valuable moving forward.
Just in their second season in the PVL, the Chargers have already exceeded expectations when they strung up 10 straight victories on their way to securing a first-ever finals appearance.
But the Cinderella run came to a screeching halt when Akari got beaten black and blue by a well-experienced and star-studded Creamline side in straight sets in the winner-take-all finale Wednesday night at the packed Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Still, it was a great campaign for the Chargers as far as Japanese head coach Taka Minowa is concerned.
“Good experience for us being able to play in the final especially for this young team because we have a lot of young players,” said Minowa, who joined the squad just weeks before the start of the tournament following his transfer from sister team Nxled.
“This experience will make us a better team for the next conference.”
Bannered by American import Oly Okaro, Grethcel Soltones, young winger Ivy Lacsina, setter Kamille Cal, Ced Domingo and Ezra Madrigal, Akari swept the elimination round, beat Farm Fresh in the quarterfinal and booted out PLDT in a controversial five-set comeback.
The squad achieved the feat despite missing Alas Pilipinas members winger Faith Nisperos and middle blocker Fifi Sharma.
Neophytes in the championship, the Chargers unravel under the bright lights of the tournament’s biggest stage without Domingo, who went down with a knee injury and sat out the final.
It didn’t help that Akari was serenaded by boos and jeers from the sea of pink brought about by a controversial no-call late in the fifth set in the semis against the High Speed Hitters that favored the Chargers.
“We’re a young team and not everyone in our team are used to this kind of crowd. We didn’t totally blocked that out. Just like what coach Taka said, it affected the players,” Lacsina said.
“But its still a good experience for us. At least we learn how to handle things. We’ll just look into the brighter side of things. Happy where God took us this conference and grateful for all the experiences — good and bad,” she added.
Akari skipped the ongoing Invitational Conference to give players time to heal and recover before building up for the All-Filipino Conference in November.