MANILA, Philippines – The Akari Chargers of the Premier Volleyball League finished its first conference on a winning note by shocking F2 Logistics in four sets on Tuesday night at the Araneta Coliseum. 

The Chargers defeated the Cargo Movers by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, and 25-22, giving their cherished import, Prisilla Rivera, a triumphant exit. 

Akari will have a 3-5 win-loss record after the PVL Reinforced Conference. The Cargo Movers suffered a costly loss, falling to 3-3 overall and failing to capitalize on last week’s significant victory over league-leading Creamline.

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In the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the Smart Arena Coliseum, PLDT ended Akari’s chances of making the semifinals by defeating them 25 to 11, 25 to 21, and 25 to19 to end a four-game losing streak.

The High Speed Hitters were coming off a contentious four-set loss to Petro Gazz last Saturday at the Sta, which the team challenged but which was ultimately upheld by the league. Rosa Athletic Complex

“For me, this presents a dilemma since there isn’t a single instance of flawless officiating, per se. But consistently in my mind, I always play for the benefit of the competition, thus I was able to enter. George Pascua, head coach of PLDT, remarked, “Anyway, natapos na yun so ayun.

“Yung connection na ginawa namin during training kasi last mga previous games namin hindi nagcoconnect sila middle kasi walang receive so yun ang tinrabaho namin [the connection we did during training, because last games we don’t have that kind of connection to each other], connection and collective effort ng bawat isa, [connection and collective effort of each and everyone]” he added.

The High Speed Hitters were successful because of their 1 to 2 punch of Elena Savkina-Samoilenko and Mika Reyes. The former helped their team recover from the heartbreaking defeat and improve their card 2 to 4 win-loss standing by scoring a team-high 20 points on 16 attacks, three blocks, and an ace, while the latter did so by scoring 15 points on 10 attacks, three aces, and two kill blocks.

PLDT got off to a fast start in the first game, starting on a scorching 11-1 run before extending their advantage to as many as 16 points, 24 to 8, as Samoilenko made a point at the charity line. In order to eliminate the Chargers from contention for the semifinals, the High Speed Hitters went on to win the following two games.

With 23 points, Prisilla Rivera led the 2 to 5 Akari team after scoring a record-breaking 44 points against Choco Mucho. For the Chargers, no other player scored more than five points.