Akari holds off third set surge from Capital1 for back-to-back wins

Ivy Lcasina and Faith Nisperos held the fort late as Akari survived a third set rally from Capital1 en route to a 25-9, 25-17, 26-24 win in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena. 

Lacsina, who scored two of their last five points in the crucial third set, led the charge with a team-high 15 points alongside four receptions while Nisperos chipped in eight markers. 

With the victory, the Chargers were able to pick up back-to-back wins as they improved to 5-4 while the Solar Spikers slipped to 1-7. 

Down two sets, Capital1 gained some measure of momentum after back-to-back attack errors from Nisperos saw the Solar Spikers cruising to a 22-20 lead in the third with Shola Alvarez leading the way in offense. 

Trisha Genesis even sent Capital1 to a 23-21 cushion after finding a sharp angle on her cross court kill, but Lacsina powered over two blockers to cut the deficit to one. 

Genesis' next attack was initially called outside, but a challenge proved otherwise as Capital1 moved a point away from extending the game into a fourth set, 24-22. 

Lacsina took advantage of an overpass from Capital1 before an overreaching violation called against setter Iris Tolenada enabled Akari to force a 24-all deadlock. 

Fifi Sharma then flexed her might on the net, denying an opposite attack from Genesis as Nisperos put the punctuation with her own kill. 

Only Genesis managed to put up a double-digit scoring with her 14 points for Capital1 while Alvarez chipped in seven markers in their seventh loss in eight games. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News