By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Choco Mucho Flying Titans already started its off-season work after signing veteran middle blocker Maika Ortiz from the Chery Tiggo Pro Crossovers.
With the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference nearing within a month, the Choco Mucho franchise is back hunting the top free agents to help them regain post-season success.
Choco Mucho had a disappointing run during the recently concluded PVL Invitational Conference after a series of unfortunate events affected their standings.
Halfway into the season, Choco Mucho had two games where they badly missed the presence of Kat Tolentino and Des Cheng due to health issues.
After that double loss, one of Choco Mucho’s worst nightmares came when top blocker Aduke Ogunsanya went down with a knee injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Ogunsanya’s injury paved the way for the Ortiz acquisition as the star veteran is still in her top form and showed the league that she can still compete.
The former University of Santo Tomas (UST) superstar was a member of Chery Tiggo’s 2021 championship team when they outdueled Alyssa Valdez and the Creamline Cool Smashers for the coveted championship title.
Ortiz also knew what it takes to win championships after leading the Foton Tornadoes during the 2016 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Conference.
Before taking her talents to the PSL, Ortiz first dazzled in the Shakey’s Volleyball League and was named Best Blocker twice during the league’s 10th and 11th seasons.
Ortiz will team up with Choco Mucho’s young core of Bea De Leon, Maddie Madayag, Deanna Wong, Ponggay Gaston, Tolentino, and Ogunsanya.
