Coming off its best PVL finish, Akari is in a roller-coaster ride in the All-Filipino Conference.

And to arrest that, the Chargers are scrambling to have a positive culture within the team.

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“We just now want to create our [own] culture. [We’re] not consistent. That’s our problem,” coach Taka Minowa said after the Chargers rose to 4-4 by shutting down sister team Nxled, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18, on Thursday at PhilSports Arena.

“But if [we’re] going to unite, play as a team, that’s the time we can win,” he added.

The Chargers’ current campaign is a far contrast to how they performed in the last Reinforced Conference, where they went undefeated in the eliminations before running into a brick wall known as Creamline in the Finals.

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Still immature

Now, without its biggest weapon from that conference, import Oly Okaro, Akari has lost three straight at one time.

“Our maturity, when it comes to playing, is what we lack, because most of us in the team are still young,” hitter Ivy Lacsina said in Filipino after dropping 17 points made up of 14 attacks, two aces and a block.

Faith Nisperos and Eli Soyud contributed 15 points apiece. Soyud, who as an opposite hitter is looked upon to fill in the void left by Okaro, made her mark on the net with six blocks as Cams Victoria added 10 points.

“Most established teams have a culture,” Lacsina said. “Step 1 for us will be to build our connection as a team and to give time for bonding so we get to know each other better,” she added.

Lacsina is one of the new faces in the team, being included in a celebrated swap with the Chameleons last year. Though this is her second conference with the Chargers, it is the first tournament that she is with Fifi Sharma and Nisperos.

“We look for our similar tendencies [on the floor], so that’s where we’ll start,” Lacsina said about each of the players establishing chemistry. “When we are together, sometimes we can’t make eye contact because we don’t know yet what each one of us wants.”