After leading Akari to 2-0 start, steady Ivy is week’s best

Ivy Lacsina (right) scores off a twin block by Zus Coffee on the way to 24 points in a four-set win last week. The towering open spiker bested seven others for the tournament’s first Player of the Week citation. —PVL PHOTOS

Picking up from where she left off, Ivy Lacsina is playing with sustained brilliance and is one of the reasons why the Akari Chargers are off to a strong start in the young PVL All-Filipino Conference.

After Akari’s breakthrough finals appearance in the Reinforced Conference, the 25-year-old Lacsina kicked off her fourth season as a pro with a pair of solid performances that resulted in two tight victories where she has so far tallied a combined 40 points in eight total sets played.

Lacsina helped Akari overcome Galeries Tower’s gallant fight, dropping 16 points to open their campaign with a 28-30, 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 victory in last week’s opener at Philsports Arena.

The National University product then unleashed 24 points, hitting 22 of her 43 attack attempts to go with a block and an ace, as the Chargers turned back new-look ZUS Coffee, 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, just last Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.

No import, no problem

The PVL Press Corps knows her contributions to the team from the period of Nov. 9-16 and gave her the first Player of the Week citation of the long tournament.

“This is a continuing learning experience for all of us, starting with that good last conference that we had,” Lacsina said in Filipino. “We are continuing to work on how we can all become better. We are continuing to learn even while we are winning games.”

The 6-foot-1 wing spiker is eager to continue what super import Oly Okaro started as the American led them to a 10-game unbeaten run in the Reinforced Conference only to lose the championship game to eventual Grand Slam champion Creamline.

Despite not having their reinforcement this time, Lacsina and the Chargers are looking to replicate their success.

“The local players are very eager to prove ourselves,” she said. “We have no one else to depend on but ourselves.”

Lacsina bested Kat Tolentino of Choco Mucho, Jema Galanza of Creamline, Brooke Van Sickle of Petro Gazz, Savi Davison of PLDT, Ara Galang of Chery Tiggo, Ces Molina of Cignal, and even her teammate Eli Soyud for the weekly recognition deliberated upon by print and online scribes covering the league.