PVL: Akari defeats PLDT in controversial final to advance to finals

Ollie Okaro and the Akari Chargers celebrate PVL Reinforced’s semifinal win over the PLDT High Speed ​​Hitters. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Akari reached its first finals by defeating PLDT 25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 26-24, 17-15 in the PVL Plus League at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.

Oly Okaro led the Lightning with 39 points on 35 carries and four blocks, while Akari extended its strong winning streak to 10 games.

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“I just tried to stay calm because obviously we’ve been in this situation many times before in the fifth set. So maybe it was actually a blessing for us because we knew what to do in this situation,” Okaro said.

Live updates: 2024 PVL Enhanced Semi-Finals August 31

“So I just try to stay calm and, you know, remind everybody that it’s OK, we get it, we go through it, and just try to refocus on the basics and not think too much about the stress that we’re in,” she added.

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Ivy Lacsina still had a great performance, scoring 19 points with 17 attacks, a block and an ace, while forming the fatal trifecta was Grethcel Soltones, who scored 16 points and made 12 excellent saves.

Majoy Baron and the PLDT high-speed hitters on the bench. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

The Chargers will await their opponents in the ongoing semifinals between Creamline and Cignal.

Akari’s win was marred by a controversial “unsuccessful” net challenge that could have been PLDT’s winning point. The referee ruled it in favor of the Lightning, with the match tied at 14-14.

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The high-flying Hitters’ offense was cut short despite Elena Samoylenko’s 30 points. Erica Santos added 15 points and Fiora Ceballos added 14 points.

Ceballos pushed away the defender’s hand in a clever attack and gave the lead back to PLDT before Soltones tied the score at 15. Soltones hit a crucial shot from the baseline that Samoilenko failed to control to take the lead.

Ceballos also had a strong performance with 14 great saves and 22 great catches. PLDT captain and libero Kath Arado had 19 great saves and Samoilenko had 12 great catches.

Kim Fajardo had 20 highlights.

Schedule: 2024 PVL Enhanced Tournament Semifinals and Finals

Finally, a fatal attacking error by PLDT’s Russian reinforcements and the ball failed to cross the goalpost sealed Akari’s fate, giving the team its first win over the high-speed hitters in five encounters.

Dani Ravena did her part for the Lightning with 12 great saves and 17 great catches, while Kamille Cal added 18 great passes for her teammates.

“You also saw Greta, Oly and Ivy, we were not really happy with the results at the last point. But I think we did a good job and PLDT did a good job – exceeded our expectations,” Minowa said.

“We also had difficulties, especially with Erica Santos. We are still running a lot and we need to improve, especially as we have a lot of young players. We lack experience,” he added.