By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Choco Mucho Flying Titans finally broke its losing spell after surviving the Army-Black Mamba in five grueling sets, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-27, 15-11, in the ongoing Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference last February 23, 2023.
It was a tough day for the Flying Titans moments before the match after leader Bea De Leon and versatile outside hitter Des Cheng were both ruled out due to health reasons.
Midway through the first set, the PVL broadcasting crew announced that De Leon was feeling under the weather while Cheng suffered from stomach flu but still showed support by staying on the sidelines.
Their absence was immediately felt in the opening set after the winless Army squad got the better of them courtesy of their masterful court awareness led by veteran setter Ivy Perez.
Perez was doing it all for Army in the first set, orchestrating their offense with her on-point setting while racking up the points off several 1-2 plays that penetrated the Choco Mucho frontline at will.
However, head coach Dante Alinsunurin and the rest of the Flying Titans finally woke up in the second set and hammered their way to an equalizing 1-1 affair, courtesy of Kat Tolentino and Regine Arocha’s consistent offense.
Injury woes continued for the Flying Titans after Tolentino sat out most of the fourth set due to muscle cramps but later on came back and delivered right away in the fifth and final set.
It was all Choco Mucho in the decider after dictating the tempo of the match when they quickly jumped to a 12-5 lead.
Despite stellar points put up by Royse Tubino and Jeanette Villareal, the Black Mamba squad still failed to contain Tolentino who top-scored the match with 20 points built from 18 successful attacks.
Backstopping Tolentino for Choco Mucho was Isa Molde who filled in the spot of the injured Cheng, tallying 19 big points off 18 successful attacks.
“Syempre sobrang sinwerte sa sitwasyon. Although sabi ko nga sa team namin, unti-unti lang. Kung ano ‘man yung gusto naming mangyari sa loob ng court nakita namin ngayon at medyo umangat yung blockings namin kaya siguro naging mas maganda yung laro namin sa depensa,” said Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin.
