ILOILO – Choco Mucho remained in contention for the top seed after sweeping Chery Tiggo, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23, to end the elimination round of the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference with a 10-game winning streak, Saturday at the University of San Agustin Gymnasium here.
The Flying Titans, who won all but its first game against sister squad Creamline, dominated the first two sets before making a come-from-behind effort in the third to finish off the Crossovers and improve its win-loss card to 10-1.
Choco Mucho still has a chance to snatch the top seed if the unbeaten Cool Smashers (10-0) loses to Galeries Tower on Tuesday, 4:00 p.m. at the Philsports Arena.
“Sobrang thankful sa naging performance kasi alam ko, talagang kami yung nagdictate ng tempo eh, First set and second set. Nung third set, nandun kami pero yun nga medyo lumapit din (Chery) nung bandang huli,” said Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin.
After bagging the first two sets, the Flying Titans found themselves in danger of losing the third set after Jen Nierva, Cess Robles, and Pauline Gaston engineered a 4-0 run to give the Crossovers a 20-17 advantage.
Choco Mucho eventually closed in, with Maddie Madayag scoring off a quick attack to cap off a 3-1 run to tie the game at 21 before Robles answered back with a cross-court hit to put Chery Tiggo ahead anew.
From there, Sisi Rondina took over, scoring off the block and then blocking Robles before a Mylene Paat attack error pushed the Flying Titans at match point, 24-22. Thang Ponce committed a double violation but Rondina knotted things up with a cross-court hit.
“Basta sobra naman talaga yung- yung ginagawa naming sistema talaga sa loob ng court is kailangan namin talaga hard serve talaga every game kasi mas nacocontrol namin yung laro,” added Alinsunurin.
Rondina fired 16 points on 13 attacks and three blocks to go along with 15 excellent receptions in the one-hour, 23-minute match while Madayag tallied 11 points on nine attacks and two service aces for Choco Mucho.
Deanna Wong tossed 24 excellent sets to go along with three points while Ponce registered 16 excellent digs and 12 excellent receptions.
On the other hand, the Crossovers will head to the semifinals with an 8-3 win-loss card and will await the results of the final set of the elimination matches to determine its spot in the semifinals.
Eya Laure was the lone double-digit scorer for Chery Tiggo with 15 points on 12 attacks and three blocks along with eight excellent digs while Paat and Robles had eight markers each in the loss.
