By MARK REY MONTEJO
Akari showed nerves of steel and survived Galeries Tower’s huge scare en route to a pulsating five-set win, 23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 22-25, 18-16, in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City Saturday, Aug. 10.
Grethcel Soltones proved she’s a force to be reckoned with, firing away four crucial points for the Chargers while Oluoma Okaro delivered the finishing touches to escape the hard-fighting Highrisers.
Okaro topped the scoring department with 32 markers off 28 kills and four blocks while Ivy Lacsina, who starred in the opening minutes of fifth set, backstopped her with 20. Soltones added 13 to give Akari its sixth consecutive win.
Soltones believed that she and her teammates were not new to these types of situations as they managed to come back in each of their misfortunes.
“Nire-remind lang namin ‘yong bawat isa na ‘di na bago samin ‘to na kaya namin [i-overcome ‘to],” said Soltones.
“‘Yong pagod namin nung bawat isa, ‘yong mga nakaraang days kasi sinubok kami ng panahon, alam namin wala dapat excuse pero buti nalang nairaos namin,” she added.
Chuewulim Sutadta pumped in 20 while Roselle Baliton and France Ronquillo had 12 apiece for Galeries Tower, which almost pulled off the biggest upset of this conference. The Highrisers slid to a 0-6 record.
Despite another sluggish first-set performance, the Chargers quickly turned the tables in the next two sets before the Highrisers went to Sutadta to lead the fourth set fightback.
With the game on the line, Soltones rose to the occasion while Okaro provided the lethal blows to escape their foes in the final frame.
