Choco Mucho may have fallen short of the crown but the fight it showed against this generation’s greatest local women’s club team in a historic finals series has sent a clear message.
The Flying Titans are now legitimate Premier Volleyball League title contenders.
Despite marching into its first-ever championship appearance, Choco Mucho made its sister team Creamline work until the last point before eventually bowing to the more experienced veteran-laden Cool Smashers in Game 2 of the 2nd All-Filipino Conference best-of-three finals last Saturday.
Witnessed by a Philippine volleyball record-setting crowd of 24,459 inside the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Flying Titans displayed grit in their gallant stand to force a rubber match but came wanting as they went down, 25-22, 20-25, 27-29, 26-24, 12-15.
Still, pushing Creamline to the limit clearly showed that Choco Mucho is much more than just a crowd-drawing club.
“We’re very grateful that at least everything is coming together. You can see the big difference in how Choco Mucho plays compared to before,” middle blocker Maddie Madayag said.
The feisty Ateneo de Manila University product is convinced they are now a threat to the rest of the field in tournaments to come.
“Looking at how we played in our last game this year, it’s a statement to all the teams that we can’t be taken lightly,” she added.
“I guess now we’re one of the teams to beat coming into the next conference but again it doesn’t stop there, we just have to build on this.”
Choco Mucho has improved by leaps and bounds since head coach Dante Alinsurin came in and introduced his system about a year ago.
But the soft-spoken mentor deflects the credit for the team’s success.
“I’m thankful for the performance we’ve shown but I can’t take all the credit for it because I have my coaching staff helping me out. As a coach, it’s not just me leading the team,” the multi-titled mentor, who replaced Oliver Almadro, said.
“I always consult with my (assistant) coaches about what would be effective and what should be done. I get help from my coaching staff ko. Hopefully, we’ll continue what we’re doing.”
It wasn’t an easy transition, though, as the team did struggle in the 1st All-Filipino Conference and the mid-season Invitational Conference with seventh place finishes.
But with 2nd AFC Most Valuable Player Sisi Rondina building chemistry with ace setter Deanna Wong along with holdovers Madayag, Kat Tolentino, Cherry Nunag, Bea De Leon, Isa Molde, libero Thang Ponce and Des Cheng, the Flying Titans looked promising heading into the season-ending conference.
Choco Mucho’s biggest breakthrough came months before the 2nd AFC as it took its first-ever podium finish as a club, winning bronze in the VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup held in Vietnam.
It was the big break the Flying Titans needed.
After dropping its first match of the 2nd AFC in four sets to Creamline, the squad then won its next 10 games — but paid a steep price after losing Cheng to a knee injury — for its first semifinals appearance since the 2022 Open Conference.
Choco Mucho had to come back from a 0-1 series deficit to boot out Cignal and book a title showdown against the unbeaten Cool Smashers.
The Flying Titans had a chance to steal Game 1 but Creamline’s composure and experience were too much for Choco Mucho to overcome. Game 2 was something inspiring for the Flying Titans regardless of the result.
Overall, the season has been generous to Choco Mucho.
“The team fought a great battle. We came up short but at least we know where we are now. We still have a lot to improve on but we did improve a lot compared to how we started this year,” Madayag said.
