On night of challenge debut, Rivera lights league up with a record

Akari import Prisilla Rivera unleashes PVL-best scoring effort vs Choco Mucho. –PVL PHOTO

The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) debuted its challenge system on Thursday. But it was Akari that unveiled a flashy winner.

And while Power Chargers coach Jorge Souza de Brito said the new contraption designed to lessen wrong calls could make do with a few more improvements, there was little else he could want from three-time Olympian Prisilla Rivera.

“Akari brought her to shine here, to make our league … stronger,” the concurrent national coach said after Rivera reset the scoring record in the PVL with a 44-point performance in a Reinforced Conference showdown vs Choco Mucho.

“Of course, I’m happy because of our winning and scoring points.” Rivera said in Spanish, with de Brito translating. “I can have two points or even make 50 or more but the most important is we need the win.

In Akari’s 23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12 victory over Choco Mucho, the three-time Olympian was nearly unstoppable with a 39-of-79 attacking clip and had four aces and a block as she broke the most points in a PVL game set by former Banko-Perlas import Kia Bright, who scored 41 points in a five-set defeat to PayMaya last July 6, 2018.

Rivera was all over the court on Thursday, on both sides of the ball. She was making good receptions and keeping balls in play while also setting up teammates for attacks. And the 37-year-old Dominican was also shepherding the young Power Charges on the court—“almost a coach,” de Brito said—with her skills, leadership and stability.

“[S]he’s been amazing,” de Brito said. “She’s a three-time Olympian. [She’s amazing] not because of this, but because every training she comes to prove herself.”

“Thankful because Prisilla is in our team and as you can see, she’s really a good leader in and outside the court,” said Janine Marciano, Akari’s top local scorer who helped Rivera in fending off Choco Mucho. “Her energy really boosts every one of us, the locals, to really step up and help her. We’re happy that we have an Olympian.”

But for everything Rivera did on the court against the Flying Titans, it was her scoring that the Power Chargers benefitted from the most. She was such a sure thing at Filoil EcoOil Arena on Thursday that there were instances when teammates were already in a celebratory yell even as she was still rising for a kill.

Less of a certainty was the challenge system, built around 23 high-definition cameras, which had the normal problems of an intricate setup being used for the first time.

“It’s good, it’s the first day,” de Brito said. “Everyone commits mistakes, I’m not judging but in the next opportunity, of course, it will be much better. [T]he challenge there [is] only to try to minimize [wrong calls]. But I’m sure, it’s the best.

“You have to keep this and they’re gonna be better game by game. Of course, they have to keep this forever.”

Akari would certainly want to keep Rivera forever—or at least while the team makes a serious run in the tournament.

“We always try to see how to get to the top. For the next two matches, we’ll have a chance also to stay in the Top 4,” de Brito said. “The mindset now is let’s do our best because we know we can beat [the other teams], all of them if [we] play consistently… Even if [we] don’t win, they’re gonna have a hard time with us.”

It’s not an empty boast. On Thursday, Rivera gave the rest of the field 44 reasons to be wary of Akari.