Akari, Galeries Tower join offseason frenzy with new signings

January 12 ------ IN the shadows of Petro Gazz’s announced leave of absence on Saturday, several key signings quietly reshaped the early offseason landscape elsewhere in the PVL.

Akari and Galeries Tower wasted no time kickstarting their respective retooling efforts, each welcoming an influx of newly available free agents. For the Chargers, the acquisitions came in the form of former Chery Tiggo duo Cza Carandang and Baby Jyne Soreño, alongside ex-Cignal standout Judith Abil.

Carandang, 28, was a three-year mainstay for the Crossovers and has long been valued for her presence and reliability on net defense. Soreño, meanwhile, barely reached the one-year mark with Chery Tiggo. Drafted eighth overall last year, she appeared in just two preseason tournaments, including a finals debut, and the year-ending Reinforced Conference before becoming available. Abil, no stranger to movement in free agency, finds her second team in as many years after closing a brief stint with Cignal to join Akari.

Over at Galeries Tower, the Highrisers began replenishing their roster less than 24 hours after parting ways with 13 players in one sweeping reset. Four new faces were announced, each coming from a different club: Erika Raagas (Akari), Blove Barbon (Petro Gazz), Lycha Ebon (Nxled), and Julia Angeles (ZUS Coffee). The initial batch features a balanced mix of two opposite hitters and two liberos. Raagas made a swift exit from Akari on the same day she joined Galeries Tower, ending a tenure largely hampered by recurring injuries that limited her court time.

Ebon was among those released amid a major overhaul at Nxled, which is reportedly positioning itself to absorb multiple Petro Gazz players and additional reinforcements in the coming days. Barbon and Angeles, both products of last year’s Reinforced Conference finalists, bring valuable finals experience to a rebuilding Galeries Tower side that has spent its first two seasons anchored near the bottom of the standings. As the dominoes continue to fall, the ripple effects of Petro Gazz’s exit are already being felt across the league.

Source: spin.ph