Choco Mucho boomed after going through some anxious moments in the second set, overwhelming Chery Tiggo with its hyped firepower in the third to annex a 25-20, 26-24, 25-15 victory and claim seventh place in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Saturday.
Cheered on by their fans in their early morning duel with the Crossovers, the Flying Titans responded and blasted in hits after hits in a series of assaults the latter had failed to neutralize, leading to a 15-5 bulge in the last frame and a one-hour, 33-minute romp.
Maika Ortiz slammed in a crosscourt kill for her lone hit to clinch the victory, which the Flying Titans described as a big morale boost looking forward to the Third Conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and after missing the semis with a shutout loss to the Cignal HD Spikers.
“It’s an important win, a big confidence-booster for the Third Conference,” said Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin. “We had a slow start but I reminded them to communicate and make the adjusments. Good thing, they did and we won.’
Caitlyn Viray took charge in attacks and finished with 22 points, including three blocks and two aces in a superb all-around performance for the former UST standout, who ended Sisi Rondina’s runs of top-scoring ways for the Flying Titans.
“Happy to help team, naibabalik ko, at least, ang tiwala na binibigay sa akin ng mga coaches,” said the lefty Viray.
Also a former Lady Tigress, Rondina wound up with 15 markers, including 14 on attacks, while Cherry Nunag added six hits and Isa Molde and Maddie Madayag made five points apiece for the Flyjng Titans, who produced 47 points on spikes against the Crossovers’ 33.
“Tuloy-tuloy lang at effective ang programa ni coach. So back to the drawing board, training at trabaho uli,” said Rondina.
Choco Mucho faced a tougher Chery Tiggo side in the second set after a five-point win in the opener but the Flying Titans exploded right at resumption and built huge leads early on and never gave the Crossovers’ chance to recover.
Mylene Paat, Ponggay Gaston and Eya Laure tried to rally the Crossovers midway through the third, only to get stalled by their own miscues, enabling the Flying Titans to scoot home to victory.
Paat scored 15 points while Gaston and Laure combined for 23 points.
