Salak sets Chargers back in orbit behind Mars
Akari head coach Tina Salak made key adjustments to her system following their first loss to Petro Gazz last week, setting her sights on sweeping the remainder of their first-round games in the PVL Reinforced Conference.
Salak admitted she’s still working on getting the Chargers fully aligned as a unit, but praised her Alas Pilipinas setter Mars Alba for quickly executing the adjustments in their bounce-back 25-11, 25-23, 25-23 win over winless Galeries Tower on Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan City.
“We still need to work on our attitude toward the game and with each other as teammates. It’s a bit hard to get everyone aligned right now since we’re still adjusting to some changes in our system,” said Salak in Filipino. “I’m very lucky to have Mars as our setter. She’s really picking up the adjustments we’ve been working on.”
Alba, who tallied 20 excellent sets, had no trouble restoring order when Akari trailed 19-23 in the third set. Behind her steady hands and Grethcel Soltones’ service run—including the equalizing ace—the Chargers strung together six straight points.
Annie Mitchem then blocked Jean Asis to reach match point at 24-23 and Ced Domingo sealed the win with a quick attack off a broken play.
“When the other team pulls away, we just regroup and remind each other to stay calm,” said Alba, who also scored four points. “Sometimes we panic and rush to get the points back, especially when the gap gets big. But we take it one point at a time, listen to the coaches and stick to the game plan to keep the flow smooth.”
Alba is part of Alas Pilipinas’ 19-player pool for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, alongside captain Jia de Guzman and Galeries setter Julia Coronel. While honored to receive the call-up, Alba is focused on helping Akari return to the finals after a breakthrough in last year’s Reinforced Conference.
Salak, whose team improved to 3-1, aims to finish strong in Pool B against ZUS Coffee on Nov. 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“The next round is going to be crucial, so we have to take all our adjustments seriously,” said Salak. “We need to adapt to what we’ve been working on and review our past games carefully. Watching film will help us find more advantages against teams we’ve already faced.”
Mitchem led Akari with 14 points off 10 kills and four kill blocks. Eli Soyud added 12 points on eight spikes, three aces and a block. Soltones chipped in nine points, including four aces.
Galeries ended the first round at 0-5 and will face the top three teams from Pool A starting Nov. 6 at the same venue. Jelena Cvijovic paced the Highrisers with 10 points, while Asis and Roselle Baliton finished with nine each.
