Akari beats Creamline after five-set thriller in Dasmarinas

DASMARIÑAS, October 13 ------ Akari picked up its first franchise win over Creamline in three years, 23-25, 25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 15-12, in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference in front of a 4,238-strong City of Dasmariñas Arena crowd.

The Chargers rewrote the outcome of last year’s finals in import-laden play to atone for its now-discarded five-set defeat in the opener to ZUS Coffee in Montalban last Tuesday. This sends Creamline to its second-straight opening loss in a Reinforced Conference after losing in five sets to PLDT in the pool play opener last year.

Another American import joins the 30-point club as Annie Mitchem fires 33 on 32 attacks and one block to go with 14 digs. As far as the record books go, she becomes the 42nd player and 24th import to ever hit 30 in the league. Mitchem did not fall short of local support behind a combined 39-point showcase from mainstays Eli Soyud (14), Fifi Sharma (13) and Ced Domingo (12) against her former team. Mars Alba was also a steady playmaking weapon for the Chargers with 21 excellent sets in her actual debut.

Even with the returning Tots Carlos onboard, who had 12 points in the win, Creamline was forced to play catch-up even in the two sets it managed to win. A Carlos-led five-point charge from 20-23 down paved the way for the Cool Smashers to draw first blood. Then came an averted second-set comeback that almost materalized had it not been for a late Mich Gamit service error.

The Chargers went on to grab an extended third canto after three set points, preceded by four late deadlocks and two Creamline set points. Pangs Panaga and Michele Gumabao teamed up to penetrate a back-and-forth fourth frame before running out of gas in sudden death as Akari scored eight of the match's last 11 points to overturn their discarded debut loss into victory. Creamline import Courtney Schwan and Alyssa Valdez nearly registered triple-doubles in the opener, with a 26-point, 15-dig, nine-reception game for the American winger and an 18-point, 11-reception, nine-dig showing for the skipper.

Source: spin.ph