Highrisers first win of the PVL All-Filipino Conference Pulse Series is finally on the board. Galeries Tower Highrisers outlasted the Akari Chargers in five sets, 25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 15-25, 15-10, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila.
It was the franchise's first victory of the conference after a stinging 0-4 start. The Chargers, meanwhile, slipped to 2-3. One team finally exhaled. The other walks away with a result that will nag at them.
Highrisers first win powered by Erika Deloria
The prized sophomore put up 20 points, 18 of them on spikes. That's the kind of night where the ball keeps finding the same arm, and Galeries Tower kept feeding it.
Deloria said the result meant plenty to a group that had been through a rough stretch: "We've been through a lot so this win means a lot to us because we came here to compete and win."
How the fifth set swung
Galeries Tower led 7-4 in the deciding set, then watched Akari claw all the way back to 9-all. Momentum was sitting on the Chargers' side of the net. The Highrisers didn't blink.
They closed it out 15-10. Keeping calm that late in a five-setter is not a small thing — it's usually the difference between a season that stays alive and one that quietly slips away.
Analysis: what this result changes
This part is analysis, not reported fact. The win gets Galeries Tower on the board and rekindles a flickering semifinal hope. For Akari, 2-3 is a wobble rather than a collapse, but losing a match they dragged into a fifth set after dropping the first two will sting.
The original report comes from philstar.com.
