3 days ago
Choco Mucho flaunts depth to overcome Galeries in four sets
A depleted Choco Mucho side dug deep to overcome a lopsided second set glitch against Galeries and eke out a 25-19, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20 win to hit the ground running in its 2025 PVL On Tour campaign on Saturday in Batangas City.
Without several key players in Sisi Rondina, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, and Kat Tolentino, veterans Isa Molde and Des Cheng presided over the four-set escape as they went 1-0 in Pool A.
Molde top-scored with 20 points together with 12 receptions while Cheng chipped in 13 markers, 11 digs, and five receptions. But it was the contribution from other cast that may have spelled the difference for the Flying Titans.
Jen Villegas, the 19th overall pick in the recent rookie draft, proved her worth by shining off the bench and providing the spark in third and four sets, unleashing a single block on fellow rookie Jean Asis to give Choco Mucho a huge 18-11 lead in the fourth.
But Galeries reorganized its offense and unleashed a quick 3-0 run to cut the deficit to four before Molde converted back-to-back attacks that extended Choco Mucho's lead to six at 21-15.
Another rookie in Ayesha Juegos, who was picked up by the Flying Titans from the free agency market recently, supplied the finishing blow by completing two opposite kills in a row to close out the match.
Villegas and Juegos, both formerly with the Adamson University Lady Falcons in the UAAP, finished with seven points each while Honey Royse Tubino churned out eight markers.
Asis, meanwhile, had herself a debut after pouring in 16 points in her first game in the PVL while Jewel Encarnacion and Ysa Jimenez chimed in with 14 and 13 markers each.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
