STILL and steady wins the race.
The Choco Mucho Flying Titans were fiery during the marathon-like five-set, where it took six deadlocks before the Akari Chargers escaped with a victory.
Ivy Lacsina finished with 30 points on 28 attacks, a block and an ace to lead her team in a 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 15-25, 21-19 win in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference last Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate.
While there’s so much heat inside the court and a crowd that dominantly supports Choco Mucho, Lacsina and Eli Soyud believe that you cannot fight fire with fire.
“Even though we can feel the game heating up, we have to aim to stay calm — because that’s when we might start making errors,” Lacsina shared.
Soyud emphasized the importance of staying calm in situations where both teams are hungry for a win.
“Staying calm matters because when everyone is composed, you can think more clearly. Our composure was there, we could hear our teammates and coaches better, so being calm is just better,” Soyud, who made 18 points and scored the winning service ace, told the media in Filipino
“That’s what we did earlier. We really made sure everyone stayed level-headed, even though the challenge was incredibly loud and intense,” she added.
The Tina Salak-mentored squad will next face the 10-time league champions Creamline Cool Smashers in the knockout play-in round.
The winner of the match will join the PLDT High Speed Hitters and Cignal HD Spikers in the semifinals.
Akari made a third-place finish in the 2024-2025 edition of the All-Filipino Conference.