ILOCOS NORTE – Choco Mucho dished out a game just good enough to hurdle a struggling team like Cignal HD, coming away with a 26-24, 25-12, 25-17 victory on Tuesday to match Creamline’s fiery start in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference here.
Except for a first-set scramble, the Flying Titans proved too strong, too powerful for the HD Spikers, posting huge leads in the next two frames on their way to annexing their fourth win-in-a-row and a share of the lead with the idle Cool Smashers under the bubble set-up at the PCV Socio-Civic Cultural Center in Bacarra.
“I admire the players, they’re really working hard, preparing a lot physically, mentally and spiritually,” said Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro, who also cited his wards’ ability to pace themselves and adjust to the demands and rigors of the grueling daily grind in the single round elimination among 10 teams spread just over three weeks.
The last two weeks are reserved for the crossover semis and the finals.
“We thank the Lord for the strength,” added Almadro. “We really need the divine strength from Him.”
Choco Mucho also drew the needed firepower from Kat Tolentino, Bea de Leon and Ponggay Gaston with the Flying Titans likewise pouncing on the HD Spikers’ miscues and mishits to post their third straight straight-set victory after kicking off their campaign with a four-set win over the PLDT Power Hitters.
Tolentino fired 16 hits, including the last two that lifted the team in the opening frame. De Leon backed her up with 11 points, including three kill blocks, while Gaston finished with nine points, highlighted by a couple of power attacks in the fourth that helped secure the victory capped by Shanne Palec’s hit.
Surprisingly, the HD Spikers produced seven blocks, three more than the taller Choco Mucho side, but failed to draw the desired offense from the likes of Roselyn Doria and Janine Marciano, who finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
Rachel Daquis and Mae Vivas each added six markers while Norielle Ipac scored five hits for Cignal, which absorbed its third straight setback for a 1-4 slate.
In the second game, Petro Gazz rose from a second set stumble and went on to claim a 25-12, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20 victory over PLDT Home Fibr as the Angels tied the Chery Tiggo Crossovers at third while sending the Power Hitters to the brink.
Ria Meneses came through with three attacks on the run to anchor Petro Gazz’s pull-away in the pivotal third set then Myla Pablo took over late in the fourth with the former closing out the match on another running attack.
The win was Petro Gazz’s third against a loss, while dealing PLDT its fifth straight setback.
Image courtesy of Jan Angelo Faustin Rosales