Ivy Lacsina aims to build more connection with Akari

MANILA, Philippines — Ivy Lacsina looks forward to building a winning culture and fortifying her connection with the Akari Chargers. The Chargers bounced back from a loss after defeating their sister team Nxled, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18, last Jan. 18. Dubbed as the "Poison Ivy," Lacsina led Akari with her 17-point outing built on 14 attacks, a block, and two aces. Holding a 4-4 win-loss record early in the tournament, Lacsina shared that creating a culture and having more bond as a team is vital. "We are going against veteran teams, and they all have culture already. We have to form a culture, but it is difficult since there are some changes within the team. Now, the first step is to build that connection as a team, and bond to know each us better," Lacsina said. Despite playing without Grethcel Soltones due to her minor should injury, the Chargers overcame a first-set hiccup to notch another win. For Lacsina, her team needs to double up and work more with their similarities to have more victories. "We want to start with the simple things, and we should all have that one goal, sometimes we don't even make eye contact. So we start first with our similarities first, then work on our differences," she added. "We need to have more maturity as a team when playing."The six-month-long tournament will give the Chargers to bond as they will next face Capital 1 on Feb 1, at the PhilSports Arena. Head coach Taka Minowa shared that the team is setting up for a tune-up match against collegiate teams National University, and Adamson University to maximize the vacant time before game day.