PHOTO: PVL IMAGES
Akari will not become a victim of premature celebration. The job is barely halfway done, after all.
The Chargers powered their way to first round perfection on Tuesday, with a come-from-behind 15-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22 triumph over previously undefeated Cignal giving them a sweep of Pool B play in the PVL Reinforced Conference at PhilSports Arena.
Despite being the first to bring down the HD Spikers, the Chargers will be bringing an important mindset heading into the second round.
“We should not stop learning,” Ivy Lacsina said in Filipino. “Because every day the coaches are teaching us something new, which we continue to see benefitting us in a huge way. No one among us will stop learning.”
American import Oly Okaro, however, is not downplaying what her team has achieved. Akari, after all, has shown so much improvement after the player and coaching staff swaps with sister team Nxled in the offseason.Japanese mentor Taka Minowa’s effect lies not only in the Chargers’ system but in the team culture as well.
“It’s nice to get these kinds of results when we’re putting in the effort every day. The team works really hard,” Okaro said. “Our coach here does a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, a lot of crazy stats stuff, so it’s nice to see it, the results that we’re having.”
The qualifiers
Okaro is at the forefront of Akari’s best franchise start, garnering a total 123 points for a 24.6 per game average which was highlighted by mammoth 38-point outing in a reverse sweep of Choco Mucho.
“I’m still very humble myself because even though we have these wins, I know that there’s still so many things that I can work on, the team can work on just looking forward,” Okaro added.
“Like what coach Taka said, we’re not gonna have a lot of time in between [games in the future],” Okaro went on. “It’s just really important that we stay calm and focus on the things that we’re still struggling with as a team.” Still awaiting their next schedule, the Chargers will tow Cignal and Capital1 into Pool D for the next round.
Marina Tushova, fresh off a historic 45-point performance on Thursday, was still hot and dropped 32 points, all but one coming from kills, to usher the Solar Spikers to a 3-2 record after they shrugged off a first-set loss before downing ZUS Coffee, 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 in a later game.
That result eliminated crowd-darling Choco Mucho and defending champion Petro Gazz, which were playing at press time.
“The future looks bright,” Capital1 coach Roger Gorayeb said in Filipino after also drawing 10 excellent digs from Tushova and 21 excellent sets from Iris Tolenada. INQ