Akari chief tactitian Jorge Souza Edson de Brito praised his players for pulling off a heart-stomping five-set victory over the mighty F2 Logistics Cargo Movers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Tuesday night.
De Brito commended the team for sticking to the game plan and not raising the white flag especially in the crucial moments of the match.
“They never gave up, they respected their opponents, and they followed the plan. When you’re able to follow the plan, the results come,” said De Brito.
After losing in the first set, the Chargers fought back in the second and third frames to overtake the Cargo Movers with a two sets to one advantage.
Smelling blood from prey, Akari looked to finish off F2 in the fourth canto, but the nine errors the former committed helped the latter dominate the set and extended the match to a final fifth.
If one watched this Akari squad in the past, the team would have folded in the decider. However, last night, the Chargers held their ground and responded by overwhelming the Cargo Movers to grab the win.
“It was really hard because the opponents could adjust, but we were ready to adjust also so I’m really proud,” the Brazilian coach marveled, “we played smart all the time,” he added.
Last night’s win was definitely morale-boosting for the ladies in Magenta and Pink, but Coach De Brito knows that they still have a long way to go especially with a strong PLDT crew coming up on Thursday.
“We have to take it one game at a time. The mindset is we go one-by-one, study our opponents, and try to improve every time.”
The Chargers will look to go 2-0 as they clash with the High Speed Hitters tomorrow, 5pm at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.