Akari kept its semifinals bid alive after sweeping the also-ran Galeries Tower, 25-14, 25-21, 25-19, in the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena, Thursday.
The Chargers, who now stand at seventh place with a 5-4 slate, still have a chance to make it to the semifinals if they sweep their remaining games against the skidding Petro Gazz and the league-leading Creamline.
However, a victory by Cignal in one of their two remaining games against Nxled and Gerflor would boot out Akari from contention.
“Okay, first of all, I’m happy for the guys because we did the job that we have to do. They are training hard. We did all the skills there and the spirit is there inside too,” said Chargers head coach Jorge Souza de Brito after their back-to-back victories.
The Chargers raced to a 22-14 advantage in the third frame but Andrea Marzan engineered a five-to-nothing run that sliced the lead to just three points.
It was all Akari from there as Michelle Cobb and Roselle Baliton put the team at match point before a Dimdim Pacres attack error sealed the deal after an hour and 23 minutes of action.
“Step by step, we’ll prepare for the next one starting today. We’re studying them already since last week,” said de Brito when asked how his team will approach their remaining games.
“Of course, it will be hard but their mindset is always fight together because you know, alone will do nothing so these guys know how we will proceed during the week,” he added.
Sharma scored 12 points on 10 attacks and two blocks while Faith Nisperos had 12 points as well to go along with nine excellent digs. Erika Raagas and Dindin Santiago-Manabat had nine markers each.
On the other hand, Ysa Jimenez and Marzan registered 11 points each in the Highrisers’ eighth consecutive loss in as many games.
Akari takes on Petro Gazz next on Saturday, 4:00 p.m. at the same arena while Galeries Tower will face off against Farm Fresh on Tuesday, 2:00 p.m.
