MORE often than not, foreign guest imports bring new life and serve as great equalizers for underperforming teams.
Scoring-wise, imports have been the captains of their respective ships in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference. And standing out the brightest two weeks into pool play is Akari’s 28-year-old American winger Oly Okaro.
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Okaro brought the hammer on offense with back-to-back 30-point games in reverse-sweep wins over Choco Mucho and Petro Gazz, including a record-setting 38-piece that was joint-fifth all-time in the league’s single-game scoring list.
In the Chargers’ perfect three-game start, the franchise’s best in its two-year PVL run, Okaro managed to lead the league in scoring with 85 points (28.3 points per game).
But the American ace herself was the first to deflect credit to her teammates who have, thus far, proven that Akari is no import-centric team.
“Ever since I got to this team, I already noticed there are a lot of standout players. I don’t have to name them, you can already see. Coming in, I was already like, ‘Wow, the team here is really strong,’” Okaro said.
“Usually, when you have imports, everyone just assumes the import is the only strong player. But here in Akari, we have a lot of strong players so it really helps to ease the load off of me. I don’t feel so much pressure thinking that I have to create alone.”
Help was there from the get-go for Okaro. And on the offensive front, she had Ivy Lacsina (6th; 48 points) and Grethcel Soltones (12th; 37 points) for company.
“Everyone has their days. You’re not always gonna be on even when you want to. Sometimes, you try everything you can and it just doesn’t work.
“Just knowing on those days if I just can’t find that switch, I know I have other teammates here around and that’s a huge weight that’s lifted off of my shoulders.”
Silly, goofy, yet fiercely competitive
They’ve been jelling fairly well in the PVL as their 3-0 record would suggest, but Okaro had a rather weird introduction to her team the first time she arrived.
May it be a culture shock or anything else in between, Okaro wasn’t used to her teammates’ ‘silly and goofy’ characters which even made her question how serious their competitive spirits really were.
“This team fights really hard every day in practice. One thing I noticed, the team could be a little bit silly and goofy. Not gonna lie, when I first came, I was thinking, ‘Woah, are you guys serious in volleyball? Is this social hour? What is this?’
“But then as I’ve been on the team longer and longer, I learned that just because they have a light-hearted goofiness, it doesn’t take away at all from their work ethic. They work extremely hard and I’m still surprised every single day when I see the effort and the work that my teammates put into volleyball and it’s not a joke for them. It’s very serious.”
Okaro added: “We know our team can get a little bit goofy, sometimes with a lot of dancing. But deep down, I would say the team is very cohesive and has the same goal in mind. And I guess that we’re not leaving (any game) without a fight.”
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