By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Choco Mucho Flying Titans are off to a rousing start in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference after sweeping the banged-up Chery Tiggo squad, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.
Eager to bounce back after failing to reach the grand finals of the last PVL conference, the young Flying Titans were all over the court and took advantage of the absence of Jaja Santiago and Dindin-Santiago Manabat who were the top two scorers of Chery Tiggo.
Jaja is still rendering her services in the Japan Volleyball League while her sister is still nursing an ankle injury and was ruled out indefinitely in the meantime.
The Kat Tolentino-Deanna Wong connection worked to perfection for Choco Mucho and became their go-to play in the three-set close contest.
Tolentino was unstoppable and was a handful in the receiving end of Chery Tiggo after uncorking a game-high 21 points built from 20 successful attacks.
Meanwhile, Wong, the team’s main orchestrator, picked up where she left off and contributed 16 excellent sets while also scoring five points and one block.
The Chery Tiggo team showed valiant fightback despite the absence of their two main gunners but Choco Mucho’s firepower and team chemistry were just too much that propelled them to a sweeping victory.
“We still have to learn more and to work harder. Nakita niyo naman it’s not really an easy match for us, we know naman na undermanned yung Chery but they put up a good fight,” said Choco Mucho head coach Oliver Almadro.
Backstopping the duo of Tolentino and Wong were Isa Molde who scored nine points, Aduke Ogunsanya with seven points and three blocks, and Des Cheng with six points and 16 excellent receptions.
The Flying Titans will have the chance to go up 2-0 this Thursday, July 14, when they take on the high-octane Cignal HD Spikers.
