Prisilla Rivera has instilled a culture of competitiveness to the Chargers.
No more beginner's luck. No more dominant imports. It's all about the local players for the Akari Chargers in the All-Filipino Conference.
Team captain Michelle Cobb says the team's mindset is all about improving themselves to actually get wins in the Premier Volleyball League, which is crucial since only four out of nine teams will advance to the semifinals.
"We've already broken the ice with our debut last conference. So 'yung mindset of wanting to win 'yung isa sa pinakagustong i-emphasize ni Coach Jorge [Souza de Brito]," Cobb told One Sports. "It's not about getting better, it's about wanting to win. We're training to win."
Akari made its debut during the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference, but ended up in 8th place despite the dominant scoring performance of its import, Olympian Prisilla Rivera.
She did manage to instill something in the young squad though — sheer competitiveness. Cobb shared that even in the minigames they did during training, the import from the Dominican Republic was "intense" and wanted to win.
"Even after a loss or a win, it's the same level. You should still give your 100 percent," libero Dani Ravena added about Rivera.
Now, they don't have a scoring machine in Rivera to rely on. But they do have a new guiding figure in Dindin Santiago-Manabat, along with big sisters in Eli Soyud, Bang Pineda, and Camille Victoria.
"They could really add to the professional part of this work that we do. They have a different sort of level in playing and kung paano makihalubilo sa tao," Cobb noted.
The Chargers, though, have learned to improve on themselves as well during the off-season.
"Last season was all about gelling together. Now it's all about developing as individuals in order to be better as a team," Ravena said. "I know we're definitely going to be pulling up our game. We all focused on ourselves first so what we can [do to help], we can bring out and hopefully work well with each other."
The Akari Chargers will officially be kicking off the All-Filipino festivities as they face the Choco Mucho Flying Titans this Saturday, February 4, 4:00 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.