Akari players celebrate a point. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Even though Akari had the luxury of prepping up for a week, the Chargers needed to dig deep against the surprising Galeries Tower Highrisers.
“It was the endgame adjustment that helped us nail this win. We expect another tough outing against them in Game 2,” said Eli Soyud in Filipino, whose impact on the floor lifted the Chargers to a come-from-behind 21-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 15-11 victory in their quarterfinal series opener.
The Highrisers were ahead after three sets, forcing the Chargers to find more ways to escape near defeat.
“We have to trust each other in every play. Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to be in the semifinals,” said Lacsina after leading her team anew with 28 points capped by that match point kill in the deciding set.
Soyud added 19 points, highlighted by 18 attacks, the most crucial hits of which came in the last two frames where the Chargers completed their fightback after falling behind by a set twice.
Vicious attacks
“Our week of preparation paid off. Good thing we were able to adjust against their fast plays,” said Soyud.
Defying the odds, the Highrisers showed their worth at the start by stunning the favored Chargers, sealing the opening set on Michelle Cobb’s service error.
The Chargers quickly made amends and recovered, racing to a 20-11 advantage built mostly on Ivy Lacsina’s vicious attacks.
But the Highrisers refused to immediately go away and cut down the deficit to four on a pair of Elize Ronquillo smashes and Julia Coronel’s deflection.
Fifi Sharma then halted the Galleries Tower rally with a strike down the middle followed by another Soyud hit before the Chargers secured Set 2 on Lacsina’s kill block on Ysa Jimenez.
Jewel Encarnacion and Roselle Baliton conspired in the third set as the Highrisers grabbed the advantage.
“They will surely bounce back, so we have to be ready [in Game 2],’’ said Lacsina.
Encarnacion’s back-to-back hits broke the last deadlock at 19 before Baliton went to work in protecting their territory with two blocks punctuated by a Jimenez attack.
The Chargers compensated for their failed attempt in the previous frame by forcing a deciding fifth set anchored on Soyud’s timely hits along with the efforts of Lacsina and Sharma at the net.
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Sharma’s lightning-fast crosscourt strike put them beyond reach, 24-13, before Lacsina produced another kill that leveled the count after four sets.
