By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Choco Mucho pounced on an erratic Nxled side and romped to a 25-11, 25-20, 25-19 victory on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to claim solo second in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Flying Titans overcame the persistent attempts of the Chameleons in the third set to stretch their winning run to four games after dropping their opening game.
The win also untangled the Flying Titans from a three-way logjam with Chery Tiggo and PLDT, and put them half a game behind league leaders Petro Gazz and Creamline (4-0).
Deanna Wong came through with 20 excellent sets to steer Choco Mucho while unleashing the team’s offensive might behind hard-hitters Sisi Rondina and Isa Molde, who paced the squad with combined 23 kills to finish with 16 and 9 points, respectively.
The Flying Titans also drew strength from Aduke Ogunsanya, who played only in the third set but managed to score six points in crucial moments.
Nxled showed resistance in the third frame when it led 15-13 behind the efforts of Lycha Ebon, Judith Abil and Jho Maraguinot, but fell into a maze of errors that allowed Choco Mucho to regain the upperhand, 19-17.
Back-to-back attacks from the Chameleons briefly breathed them life to tie the game at 19-all, but four straight kills from Molde and Rondina silenced their run and sealed the win for the Flying Titans.
Nxled absorbed its fourth consecutive loss to further slip at 1-4 despite Maraguinot and Abil scoring 14 and 11 points, respectively.
It also didn’t help that the Chameleons gave up 24 points on errors particularly on the service line, including 12 in the second set alone.
