They dug this hole themselves, so the Choco Mucho Flying Titans now have no choice but to climb out of it — no matter how difficult, no matter the circumstances.
After finishing the preliminaries as the seventh seed with a 4-5 record, the Flying Titans were relegated to the stepladder play-in stage of the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
That meant they would need to win three games just to reach the round-robin semifinals.
Sisi Rondina and Maddie Madayag, however, feel determined to lift Choco Mucho to three straight victories and return to the semifinals for the first time since the 2024-25 All-Filipino tournament.
The duo joined forces to power the Flying Titans to a come-from-behind win over the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles, 21-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-11, 15-11, on Tuesday at the Filoil Centre, moving one step closer to their goal.
For Rondina, it took self-reflection to fully grasp what they must go through to stay alive in the tournament.
(C) PVL Images
“Siyempre, inisip din namin na kagagawan din naman namin kung bakit kami nandito. So ayun, ginawa lang namin is mag-trabaho, and gustong-gusto pa rin namin… And ipipilit pa rin namin na makapasok pa rin kami sa gusto naming mangyari sa team namin,” said the 5-foot-6 outside spiker from Cebu.
“Sobrang laking bagay na makita na kaya naming bawiin ‘yung sarili namin. ‘Yun sabi ni Sisi na kagagawan namin na nasa seventh place kami,” added the 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Ateneo.
Rondina fired 27 points while also anchoring the defense with 15 excellent receptions and 10 excellent digs. Meanwhile, Madayag contributed 19 points on 14 spikes, three blocks, and two aces.
With the challenge of ZUS Coffee cleared, Choco Mucho now turns its focus to sixth-ranked Akari, which it will face on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
The Flying Titans swept the Chargers in their preliminary round meeting last January 31, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20. But much has changed since then, with Akari finding its rhythm late in the conference.
“Sinabi ko sa team namin na the journey will not get easy, it’s gonna get much harder. Kasi, pataas nang pataas ‘yung competition. Siyempre ‘yung Akari, hindi rin sila papayag, di ba?” said Madayag.
“Ayun na nga, kailangan naming mag-focus sa bawat isa, sa team namin, kung paano kami gumalaw at kung paano namin iangat ‘yung sarili namin.”
#WATCH: KAKAGAWAN DIN NAMIN KUNG BAKIT KAMI NANDITO 🏐
Sisi Rondina and Maddie Madayag say that they are atoning for their mistakes during the elims in the KO round of #PVL2026#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/wufH29U875
📹 @justinvalencia_ /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/bdb0rCqzjo
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 24, 2026
