Akari turns switch on vs Choco

MANILA, Philippines — The Akari Chargers are not ones who easily lose faith.

It showed yesterday when Akari, drawing strength from Faith Nisperos in the clutch, rose from the dead in stunning Choco Mucho, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14, to inch closer to the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference finals at the Ynares Center Antipolo.

On the brink of defeat after trailing by three points, 14-11, in the fifth and deciding set, Nisperos came through with clutch hits including the match-sealing kill that gave the Chargers a 1-0 record in the single-round robin format semifinals.

It pushed the fledgling franchise closer to its second finals appearance after last year’s Reinforced Conference where it fell to eventual winner Creamline.

Interestingly, the Chargers face off with the mighty Cool Smashers next Tuesday. Akari’s last semis outing will be against the Petro Gazz Angels on Thursday.

Eli Soyud erupted for 34 points, 27 of which off attacks with the other seven off kill blocks, in helping save the day for her team. She later talked about keeping the faith to survive.

“I kept saying that we hold on to each other and telling each other never to give up,” she said.

Then Nisperos struck hardest when her team needed it most.