Ivy Lacsina remained unfazed by the crowd’s boos during Akari’s final clash against eventual champions Creamline in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference last Thursday night.

Despite the jeers, Lacsina respected the fans’ decision to express their disapproval and chose to focus on her team instead.

“Ayun, siguro hindi naman ako pumunta doon para lang din sa kanila. Nire-respect ko naman kung anong mga gusto at hindi nila [gusto], siguro iniisip ko [na lang] ‘yung team,” Lacsina said following the Chargers’ 15-25, 23-25, 17-25 loss to the Cool Smashers at the Philsports Arena.

She maintained her composure throughout the match, ignoring the distractions from the crowd. “Doon ako nag-focus, lagi kong sinasabi focus lang ako kung ano ‘yung nasa harap ko,” she added.

Embracing the hostile atmosphere with grace, Lacsina even smiled at the camera and confidently waved her hands, showing that the boos had no effect on her. She recognized that controlling the emotions of the fans was beyond her power, so she centered her attention solely on the game.

“Siguro lagi ko namang sinasabi maganda ‘man o hindi ‘yung ginagawa mo, may masasabi sila,” she said, acknowledging the inevitable criticism that comes with playing in front of a passionate crowd.

Lacsina admitted that some of her teammates were not accustomed to such a hostile environment, which may have contributed to their lopsided defeat against the powerhouse Creamline squad.

“Siguro ‘yun nga po, ‘yung team kami ‘di lahat sanay sa ganung crowd. Ginuide na lang namin ‘yung mga bago and ‘di pa sanay sa ganun,” shared the 24-year-old spiker.

She added that it was difficult for the team to completely block out the negativity.

“So ‘di namin siya totally na-blockout sa’min. ‘Yun nga, sabi nga ni Coach Taka may effect siya pero nasa player na ‘yun paano iha-handle.”

(C) PVL Images

Akari head coach Taka Minowa echoed Lacsina’s sentiments, revealing that some players were visibly affected by the boos, but he hopes they will treat this experience as a valuable lesson moving forward.

“I’m [a] person who always makes it tactical, but this time, seeing all the players totally different because their faces [showed that they are] not enjoying volleyball. Until the end, the fans didn’t stop, so this time, maybe I feel like it’s not normal,” said Minowa.

He continued, “If you ask someone, someone will say it’s normal. But I hope it’s not going to be normal. It’s very bad also. Hopefully, we’re going to [learn] from this experience and how to handle [it].”

Minowa admitted that he had never encountered a situation like this in his previous games. “I will say, I haven’t handled [something like this] before in the past games. After the set, we always recover, but this time, until the end, we couldn’t handle the fans. That’s why we have a lot of learning in this final.”

With the season coming to an end, Minowa emphasized the importance of giving his players time to rest and recover, both physically and mentally. He acknowledged that the constant bashing from fans took a toll on the team’s mental health.

“It’s also a very bad experience because of the bashers. Actually, our players got affected. We can recover after one to three days, but [for their] mental health, it’s very toxic, so we need to have a rest. That’s also one of the reasons we have to skip the Invitational also,” Minowa explained.

Despite the setbacks, Minowa remains optimistic about the team’s future, especially given the youth and potential within the roster.

“It’s still a good experience, especially for this young team, kasi we have a lot of young players. Actually, this team, I [only] met them three weeks before the conference because I was with the Under-18 team.”

Minowa believes the Chargers showed promise throughout the tournament, and this challenging experience will ultimately help the team grow stronger moving forward.