Akari vented its frustration on a struggling Galeries Tower squad with a dominant 25-11, 25-23, 25-23 sweep in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to Petro Gazz last Thursday, the Chargers showed poise and composure. They erased a late five-point, 18-23 deficit in the third set behind the efforts of Ced Domingo, Annie Michem, and Grethcel Soltones.
The trio fueled a blistering 7-0 closing run to seal Akari’s first straight-set victory of the tournament, improving their record to 3-1 in Pool B.
Despite trailing for most of the third frame, Akari never lost focus. Soltones and Domingo connected on back-to-back attacks that cut a six-point, 16-22 gap to just four.
Montenegrin import Jelena Cvijovic briefly halted the run with a sharp down-the-line hit, but the Chargers refused to back down.
Domingo, Michem, and Soltones took turns delivering the final blows in a 7-0 barrage — helped by crucial Galeries Tower errors — to complete the comeback and end the match in one hour and 26 minutes in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
(C) PVL Images
“’Yun naman talaga ‘yung goal namin e, ‘yung ma-sweep ‘yung lahat ng games namin — I mean ‘yung remaining games. But still, we have to work on do’n sa mga attitude namin towards sa game, attitude din namin within our teammates,” said Chargers head coach Tina Salak.
“Kumbaga mahirap pa kasi ngayon i-align lahat because meron kaming binabago sa sistema, so very fortunate ako si Mars ‘yung setter namin. And nakukuha kasi niya ngayon ‘yung adjustment namin na ginagawa,” she added.
Michem led Akari with 14 points built on 10 attacks and four kill blocks, while also contributing seven excellent digs and four excellent receptions. Eli Soyud matched her output with 14 markers from eight attacks, three aces, and a block.
Soltones added nine points and five excellent receptions, and Fifi Sharma chipped in eight markers in a well-balanced offensive display orchestrated by Mars Alba. The crafty setter tallied 20 excellent sets and scored four points of her own.
Akari aims to close its Pool B campaign with back-to-back wins when it faces ZUS Coffee on Tuesday at 4:00 PM at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
(C) PVL Images
Meanwhile, Galeries Tower remained winless at 0-5 to wrap up the first round. The Highrisers will move to Pool D, where they will take on the top three teams from Pool A.
Cvijovic led Galeries Tower with 10 points and seven excellent receptions, while Jean Asis and France Ronquillo added nine points apiece in the loss.
