AKARI zeroed in on the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference bronze medal by reverse-sweeping Choco Mucho, 24-26, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-11, in Game One of the battle for third on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was Choco Mucho that set the tone early with a clutch 4-0 blitz from 22-24 down to take the early lead.
Then came a pair of late Choco Mucho blunders in Sets 3 and 4 where they failed to erase early Akari leads.
Just like its dramatic semis comeback win in Antipolo from three match points down, Akari kept its cool to get the job done over the only team it managed to beat in single-round robin play.
Returning Akari libero Justine Jazareno had her best performance in pink with 29 digs on 60 percent efficiency and 16 receptions.
Back to back podium finishes for Akari?
A repeat win in two days’ time will give the Chargers back-to-back podium finishes for the first time in their three-year franchise history.
Should they close out the series on Thursday, Akari will become the lowest-seeded team to reach a PVL podium since fellow No. 7 seed Banko Perlas Spikers in the 2018 Reinforced Conference.
While all hope is not lost yet, disaster has struck the Flying Titans since riding on an erstwhile league-best 10-game win streak.
Choco Mucho’s 10-0 unbeaten run since December last year has turned into a four-game playoff skid.
And among the last four teams, only the Flying Titans went winless in all three of its semis matches prior to the battle for third series opener.
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