Akari shocks Chery Tiggo in 5-set escape; Petro Gazz ousts hapless Army
MANILA, Philippines – The Akari Chargers breathed new life to their 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference playoff bid with an all-important, five-set upset of the Chery Tiggo Crossovers, 16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 15-11, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
Once responsible for Chery Tiggo’s last championship, new Akari leader Dindin Santiago-Manabat showed her old team how it’s done with a season-high 26-point bomb on 24 attacks, 1 block, and 1 ace, while the resurgent Chiara Permentilla added 18 points in the win to rise to a 2-4 record.
Off a momentum-boosting fourth-set win to force a decider, Akari stayed consistently, but just slightly ahead of Chery Tiggo until Jaycel delos Reyes committed back-to-back errors that would ultimately haunt her team in the end as the Chargers mounted a 9-6 lead off the free points.
Although Chery Tiggo eventually inched within one, 10-11, after being down as many as 4, 6-10, a Manabat crosscourt kill followed by an EJ Laure attack error gave Akari a 13-10 advantage.
One Mylene Paat score later, Manabat clinched match point off a down-the-line hit, before Laure again botched an attack to gift the much-needed win to the Crossovers’ cause.
Paat paced the sorry loss – now Chery Tiggo’s third straight after a 3-0 start – with 19 points off 16 attacks and 3 blocks, while Laure and Cza Carandang chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Petro Gazz Angels kicked off the double-header with a 25-21, 25-10, 25-13 ouster of the winless Army-Black Mamba Lady Troopers to boost their record to 4-2.
MJ Phillips further left her shoulder injury in the rearview mirror after erupting for 16 points off 9 attacks, 4 blocks, and 3 aces in just two sets played, while veteran Aiza Maizo-Pontillas added 10 points.
No Army player breached double-digit scoring in the loss as Royse Tubino and Jeanette Villareal paced the Lady Troopers with 7 and 6 points, respectively.
Petro Gazz and Akari put their playoff-chasing campaigns up to the test next on Thursday, March 9, 4 pm, at the PhilSports Arena, while Chery Tiggo hopes its woes don’t compound against a likewise struggling Choco Mucho Flying Titans side at 6:30 pm. – Rappler.com