Akari’s middle blocker duo of Fifi Sharma and Ced Domingo took charge and hosted a block party on Saturday night, leading the Chargers to a convincing straight-set victory over Nxled in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
Sharma and Domingo were a force above the net against the Chameleons, combining for eight of the team’s 12 blocks in the 25-17, 25-19, 25-20 victory over their sister team at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex on Saturday night.
The 5-foot-11 Sharma tallied six rejections to finish with a game-high 13 points while the 5-foot-9 Domingo came up with two kill blocks and backstopped the former La Salle standout with 12 markers in their second victory of the conference.
Sharma is just glad to have someone like Domingo, whom she revealed before as one of her inspirations, providing the same intensity that she brings as her running mate.
“Of course, very happy kasi kampante ako na pag-iikot, lalabas ako, it’s the same intensity inside of the court. As I mentioned before, I admire Ate Celine and it’s good din for the team na we work really well together, so that’s good,” said Sharma after the win.
Akari head coach Raffy Mosuela shared that she instructed setter Michelle Cobb to feed Sharma and Domingo early in the game, which proved to have been instrumental in the Chargers’ victory.
“Ang sabi ko nga sa kanila is magfo-focus muna kami sa middle. So nangyari nga is medyo maganda, most of the time naman maganda ‘yung receive, so ‘yun naman ‘yung pinaka-instruction ko, activate the middle blocker,” said Mosuela.
“Well, naging effective ‘yung preparation namin, especially pinukpok ko talaga ‘yung middle doon sa blockings. So nag work naman,” he added.
The daughter of former PBA player Carlo Sharma said that it was a great win overall for the team, who worked really hard in training following their deflating loss against the powerhouse Petro Gazz last Saturday.
It was a balanced offensive strike for the Chargers, with Grethcel Soltones scoring 10 and Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Faith Nisperos each chipping in eight markers in one hour and 22 minutes of play.
Cobb also played well with 14 excellent sets and three points while Bang Pineda tallied 11 excellent digs.
“Just overall very happy because everybody evidently worked all together and efficiently as well. So, this is a big win for us kasi we worked really hard throughout the past few weeks to get a win like this,” said Sharma.
“I feel like this is a good testament to everyone na as long as you prepare for a game you’re gonna get victory talaga basta hardwork lang and trust the system, which is what we all did today. Yeah, that’s all I can say,” she added.
