AKARI pulled off a podium hat-trick thanks to a 15-25, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 20-18 comeback win over PLDT in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference battle for third on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Eli Soyud got a lucky break by hitting the ball with a bit of help from the net to convert the Chargers' third match point in an extended fifth set to win the bronze with her sixth and most important point of the game.
With that, eighth-seeded Akari is now the lowest-ranked team to finish in the top three in league history.
It also extended its streak of medals in import-laced play following last year’s silver, - and notched three podium finishes in the last four conferences overall, including an All-Filipino bronze in April.
It also marks a repeat win for the Chargers, echoing their controversial five-set semifinal clash with the High Speed Hitters in the 2024 Reinforced Conference, where a disputed net-touch call sparked a stunning turnaround that propelled them to their first-ever finals.
When all hope seemed lost at 5–16 in the fourth set, Annie Mitchem willed Akari back from an 11-point hole to an improbable 26-24 escape, forcing a sudden-death decider and completing a stunning, medal-clinching fightback.
“With that match, everybody doubted us, even ourselves in the fourth set,” said Akari head coach Tina Salak. “We doubted ourselves sa fourth set na ’yun. We didn’t realize na holding on together is the best thing we can possibly do to win this bronze medal."
“Still, marami akong nakita with my team. Du’n sa lineup namin, marami tayong natutunan and also marami akong nakita rin na puwede natin i-improve — not actually baguhin, but i-improve pa.”
Mitchem capped her bemedalled PVL debut with a staggering 36 points and 12 receptions, while Grethcel Soltones kept the Chargers alive from what looked like an imminent fourth-set collapse by posting a clutch triple-double of 14 points, 13 receptions, and 10 digs.
Middle blockers Ced Domingo and Fifi Sharma added nine and eight points, respectively.
PLDT left shell-shocked
What should have been PLDT’s bronze to take slipped away in agonizing fashion.
Up 16-5 in the fourth set while holding a two sets to one advantage, and later with three match points in the fifth, the High Speed Hitters were left to rue a string of missed chances to close out the match.
Savi Davison delivered her usual explosive output with 30 points and nine receptions, while Russian reinforcement Anastasiia Bavykina, playing her final game of the conference, fired 28 points and eight digs.
Dell Palomata anchored the local charge with 11 points and three blocks, wrapping up a franchise-best season for PLDT that saw the club win its first two PVL titles and finish just two victories shy of a rare championship treble.
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