AKARI charged back from a two-set deficit and held off hard-fighting Farm Fresh 25-11, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9 last night in the qualifying round of the PVL All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Ivy Lacsina led the charge for the Chargers with 22 points off 21 attacks, a block, and caught four excellent receptions while Eli Soyud added 14 markers.
Grethcel Soltones and Camille Victoria also had 11 and 10 points, respectively for Akari in the two-hour and 27 minutes duel.
The Chargers joined defending champion Creamline, Petro Gazz, Choco Mucho, and Galeries Tower in the best-of-3 quarterfinals which will begin on March 15.
The winner between the PLDT High Speed Hitters and the Zus Coffee Thunderbelles, playing at press time, will bag the final playoffs berth.
“Siyempre, iyong pinag-trabahuhan po namin in the past few days, iyong sakripisyo po talaga and iyon po, kasi parang hindi po naging madali iyong before this game po kasi sobrang grabe po talaga iyong training namin,” Lacsina said.
“Iyong effort ng management, ng coaches and teammates po, iyon po talaga iyong naging inspirasyon ko,” he added.
The Foxies still have a chance to be reach the quarterfinals as they will go through the play-in stage with Cignal, Nxled, Capital1 and Chery Tiggo and the loser between PLDT and Zus Coffee.
Opposite spiker Trisha Tubu delivered a game-high 23 points for Farm Fresh while Alyssa Bertolano had 13 markers, 11 digs and 11 excellent receptions.
Akari also asserted its defensive presence at the net, racking up 12 blocks, 10 more than the Foxies, with Soltones, who last played for the Chargers last Dec. 10, and Victoria accounting for three each. AKARI further capitalized on Farm Fresh’s shaky service reception, tallying nine aces while surrendering just four.
