Akari turned to young guns Faith Nisperos and Fifi Sharma in bringing down Galeries Tower, 25-14, 25-21, 25-19, to remain in the semifinals berth race of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference yesterday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Chargers claimed their second straight victory to improve their win-loss record to 5-4 tied with idle Petro Gazz at fifth to sixth in the standings.
Nisperos finished with 12 points including 10 from kills and added nine digs for Akari while Sharma punched in 10 attacks and had two kill blocks for 12 markers.
“Of course, I’m really happy as I mentioned, we were really trying to — we still are trying to use these remaining games so we can rebuild our confidence because we came from consecutive losses. It really took a toll on the team and the team’s morale,” Sharma said.
“Right now we’re taking it one game at a time. Step by step we’re rebuilding our confidence so I feel like this is a good achievement for the team that we produced a convincing win,” she added.
The Chargers controlled most of the match but had to weather the Highrisers’ late fightback in the third frame.
Akari went up, 22-14, only to see Galeries Tower blast five straight points to breathe down its neck, 22-19, after Sharma was whistled for a net touch.
Chargers setter Michelle stopped the bleeding with a 1-2 play followed by a Roselle Baliton kill block on Tin Francisco before Highrisers winger Dimdim Pacres overshot her attack that ended the one-hour, 31-minute battle.
Erika Raagas and Dindin Santiago-Manabat added 12 markers each for Akari, which currently holds 14 match points earned.
But the Chargers’ chances of advancing to the semis are already out of their hands as they need to win their last two games and hope that Cignal drops all of its remaining assignments for better tiebreak to advance to the next round.
The Highrisers absorbed their eighth loss in as many starts.
Ysa Jimenez and Andrea Marzan scored 11 points while Graze Bombita had nine for Galeries Tower.
