Akari learns lesson ahead of PVL wars

Akari is taking its stinging upset loss to collegiate team Adamson University in the 2024 Akari Invitational Cup final as a lesson that it will bring into the Premier Volleyball League season.

Playing without veteran Dindin Santiago-Manabat and with seasoned reinforcement Grethcel Soltones hobbled by a lingering injury, the Chargers fell prey to the younger Lady Falcons, 19-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-23, 9-15, in the gold medal match Wednesday night at the Adamson gym.

“No excuses at the end of the day even if there are certain lapses, certain players dealing with different aches and pains, there are no excuses,” setter Michelle Cobb said.

“I think we should all give it to Adamson. As a collegiate team, they’ve been together almost every day. They have more time together, a lot of factors, actually. But at the end of the day a game is a game, a result is a result.”

Akari, under new head coach Raffy Mosuela following the resignation of former mentor Brazilian Jorge Souza de Brito last December, started sluggish and fell behind after the first two frames.

The Chargers barely escaped in the third and fourth frames to force the decider but were again buried deep in the fifth set as the Lady Falcons went for the kill.

“We learned a lot in this game. First of all, we allowed ourselves to go down two sets,” Cobb said.

The playmaker added that the club at least saw what they needed to address with just two weeks before the PVL All-Filipino Conference opens shop on 20 February.

“At least we’ve seen real-life situations and what we should do to overcome them. This experience is important for us,” she said.

“I guess this serves as a leverage that we could use if ever this would happen to us in the PVL, we would be more aware. We would know how to go about things as such.”

Akari finished the 2023 season-ending 2nd AFC at seventh place with a 5-6 win-loss record.