Choco Mucho continues their redemption tour with a high-stakes win over the PLDT High Speed Hitters in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
It’s safe to say that the Choco Mucho Flying Titans continue to rediscover their winning form in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Now fielding an intact team led by star hitter Sisi Rondina, the Flying Titans are a game away from making their return to the semifinals, courtesy of an impressive reverse sweep against the PLDT High Speed Hitters in Game 1 of their quarterfinals meeting.
Down two sets to none, Choco Mucho successfully turned the tables against PLDT in a 20-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 18-16 thriller, which also marked their eighth-straight win for the conference.
Rondina attributed the Titans’ streak to accepting their limitations, while equally working hard to fill these gaps. In Game 1 alone, there was the timely insertion of Mars Alba in Set 3, who tossed up 16 excellent sets as she filled in for starter Deanna Wong. Royse Tubino also fired for 20 points after taking over for Dindin Santiago-Manabat, who dealt with knee discomfort midway through Set 1.
Rondina herself finished with 31 huge points built on 29 kills, keeping the Titans afloat as PLDT threatened to take a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series.
“Siguro ‘yung alam namin na minsan dehado kami, pero andon pa rin ‘yung composure and adjustment, ginagawa naman namin pagdating sa laro lalo pag pitpitan, and ‘yun, wala lang talagang tumitigil hangga’t di pa tapos, ganon ‘yung attitude sa laro kanina,” Rondina said post-game.
“And ako kanina, sabi ko nga, hangga’t ‘di sila nananalo ng tatlong sets, kaya namin bawiin. ‘Yun talaga ‘yung nasa isipan ko kanina, na mag-contribute lang nang mag-contribute, tumulong kung san pwede tumulong. And ‘yun, lumabas din talaga ‘yung kagustuhan ng lahat manalo.”
Choco Mucho is in the midst of a redemption tour in the All-Filipino Conference following their franchise-worst outing in the 2024 Reinforced Conference. After finishing fifth in the preliminary rounds, the Titans proceeded to sweep the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the conference qualifiers, which set up their meeting with PLDT.
Apart from their maturity, a sense of urgency has been equally crucial for the Flying Titans. After all, the safety nets are gone at this point of the conference. Unlike the preliminaries, or even the qualifiers, there won’t be any play-in tournament that will provide another chance to enter the playoff rounds should the Titans stumble.
“Pinanghahawakan namin is ‘yung nandito na kami, huwag na nating bitawan kasi sayang lahat ng pinaghirapan nung prelims kung dito pa sa importanteng game bibitaw,” reflected Alba, who was part of Choco Mucho’s Reinforced Conference core.
“Pagdating sa training, lagi lang kami nire-remind na pa-quarterfinals na, so kailangan na talaga mag-full time at seryoso talaga sa training. Every training 100 percent talaga, kasi ‘yun nga ‘yung sinasabi na kung ano ‘yung gagawin mo sa training, ‘yun din ‘yung lalabas sa laro.”
No more ‘silly errors’
Choco Mucho will look to close out the series this March 20, though it won’t be any easier given PLDT’s eagerness to recover from dropping a winnable game.
Led by Savi Davison, PLDT seemed ready to sweep Game 1, before failing to adjust once the Flying Titans came roaring back.
“The aura in the dugout was more focused on the mental side of the game, we were up two sets so that’s kinda hard to swallow in terms of the opportunities that we had to win,” said Davison, who finished with 25 points and 19 excellent receptions in her first quarterfinals appearance with PLDT.
“I think going towards the next game, we just have to focus on closing out and pushing the score, and not making silly errors on our side of the net,” the Fil-Canadian hitter added, with the High Speed Hitters committing 31 errors in the two-hour affair.
Davison also pointed out the pro-Choco Mucho crowd at the Philsports Arena, which acted as a “seventh man” in the Titans’ comeback bid. While PLDT wasn’t naive about the Titans’ huge following, hearing their loud cheers was still a different experience altogether.
“I think going into the game, we knew it was going to be loud, but when they had the upper hand, let’s say give or take a couple points here and there, it was hard to catch up. I think because once they go on a run, you can’t really hear yourself, all the Choco Mucho fans really fill the arena,” Davison said, with the fans being at their loudest when Choco Mucho turned a 2-4 deficit into a 9-7 advantage in Set 5.
“So I think that was the hardest part, even though it was only two or three points they were ahead by, it felt like ten because of the crowd. So it’s hard to stay calm and collected when it’s only a two, three-point game but it could be like a ten, twelve-point game [due to the crowd].”
With Game 2 fast approaching, Davison urged her teammates to step up offensively if they want to get even with the Flying Titans and silence their highly passionate fanbase.
“As much as I hate to say it every time, we just need a little bit of help, so hopefully the next game, more people show up, and are able to put some points up,” Davison said, with Erika Santos’ 14 markers being the second-highest output for PLDT in Game 1.
Images courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.