{"id":2098,"date":"2024-08-25T04:48:55","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T04:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/?p=2098"},"modified":"2024-08-25T04:48:55","modified_gmt":"2024-08-25T04:48:55","slug":"akari-cignal-set-sights-on-pvl-semis-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/25\/akari-cignal-set-sights-on-pvl-semis-opponents\/","title":{"rendered":"Akari, Cignal set sights on PVL semis opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"
Akari and Cignal now have the luxury of time to either rest or sharpen their strategies as they await their semifinal opponents in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.<\/div>\n

But for the top two seeds, which narrowly avoided upsets in the knockout quarterfinals over the weekend, there\u2019s no time to relax \u2013 only time to work, work and work to maintain their momentum and competitive edge.<\/p>\n

The Chargers, rebounding from a sluggish opening set, swept the next three to edge out the eighth-seeded Farm Fresh Foxies in a victory that was anything but easy. Just as they had done during their remarkable sweep of the two-phase eliminations, which included reverse sweeps against some of the league\u2019s top contenders, Akari once again showcased its resilience.<\/p>\n

Despite reasserting their strength in the second set to level the match, the Chargers had to dig deep, displaying tremendous courage and spirit to fend off the Foxies’ relentless challenge in the subsequent sets, eventually sealing a 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 win.<\/p>\n

The two-hour, five-minute victory not only extended Akari\u2019s winning streak to nine games but also brought the Chargers within one win of a breakthrough finals appearance \u2013 and two victories away from achieving a historic first-ever championship sweep.<\/p>\n

But Akari isn\u2019t looking too far ahead, its immediate focus is on overcoming either PLDT or Chery Tiggo in the semis, another do-or-die stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor others, reaching this point is already historic, but as long as we haven\u2019t held the trophy, we haven\u2019t proven anything,\u201d said Akari’s top local Grethcel Soltones in Filipino.<\/p>\n

The seasoned campaigner, along with powerful hitter Ivy Lacsina, has been providing not just firepower but also leadership for a team determined to defy the odds and achieve a milestone season. Soltones emphasized that their reliance on each other has been key to staying on top.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about motivation,\u201d Soltones added. \u201cIt\u2019s about the hard work we\u2019ve put in as a team. We didn\u2019t get here by taking things easy. My teammates inspire me, and when the battle gets tough, you look for someone to lean on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s prized import, Oly Okaro, echoed Soltones\u2019 sentiments: \u201cWe\u2019re so motivated because it\u2019s all or nothing at this point. We just need to fix some things from our last game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okaro, who has been a key figure in Akari\u2019s success, added: \u201cI came here to make an impact, as all imports do. We work really hard to ensure that I\u2019m improving, not just for myself but for the team. The results show that, together, we\u2019re getting closer to the goal we have in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Akari and Cignal now have the luxury of time to either rest or sharpen their strategies as they await their semifinal opponents in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference. But for the top two seeds, which narrowly avoided upsets in the knockout quarterfinals over the weekend, there\u2019s no time to relax \u2013 only time to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[212],"class_list":["post-2098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-pvl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2100,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2098\/revisions\/2100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}