Sisi Rondina displayed her scoring prowess in leading Choco Mucho to a 25-17, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, win over Kansai University in the VTV Cup Saturday night in Lao Cai, Vietnam.
The high-leaping wing spiker unleashed 12 kills, two kill blocks and an ace to wound up with a team-best 15 points as the Flying Titans kicked off their international stint on the right track.
Rondina, who has turned into Choco Mucho’s ace scorer since returning to indoor volleyball in the Premier Volleyball League this season after focusing on beach volleyball the past two years, had plenty of support in taking down the young Japanese squad.
Cherry Nunag had an efficient offensive outing as 12 of her 18 attack attempts found their marks while Maddie Madayag and Caitlyn Viray stepped up big time in the tight fourth set to thwart Kansai University’s fightback.
Choco Mucho took control of the match after winning the first two sets only to see the Japanese take advantage of head coach Dante Alinsunurin sitting his starters to give his bench time on the court to steal the third frame.
It gave Kansai University momentum as it kept the game close in the fourth set. The Japanese cut down the Flying Titans three-point lead to 22-23, which forced Alinsunurin to sue for time.
Viray came to the rescue of Choco Mucho with a timely down-the-line hit at the right side to stop the Flying Titans’ bleeding.
Madayag, who has been playing good defense at the net, scored the game-clinching kill block to seal the 90-minute encounter.
Madayag had 11 points including 10 off spikes while Viray delivered 10 markers. Des Cheng made seven points while Kat Tolentino came off the bench with five.
The Flying Titans are playing Vietnam 1 as of press time.
Hikaru Tamura led all scorers with 21 points with 19 off kills, Sara Tokutake got 17 while An Akazue and Yui Yoshioka made 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for Kansai University.
