Motolite, Choco Mucho triumph
Motolite and Choco Mucho turned back their respective opponents on Wednesday to intensify their title bid in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Motolite crushed Chef’s Classics, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22, to take solo second spot in the standings with seven wins in 10 matches.
It was also a big rebound from a shutout loss to Air Force last week.
Tots Carlos scored on an off-the-block hit to cap Motolite’s fiery 6-0 closing run that turned a 19-22 deficit into a three-point win in the third set of a game that the Red Spikers had controlled majority of the way.
Carlos also broke a 22-all standoff with a drop shot to ensure the Motolite Spikers’ win. The Red Spikers fell to 0-12.
Earlier, Choco Mucho finally gave a glimpse of what it can do with full strength as it brought down BaliPure, 25-16, 25-12, 25-16.
It was Choco Mucho’s second straight win after snapping a five-game losing skid to improve to a 4-6 card.
Kat Tolentino scored 13 points, while Bea de Leon added 11 points in her first game since the tournament started. De Leon’s return reunites her with Ateneo teammates Tolentino and Maddie Madayag to give Choco Mucho the same kind of fearsome net threat the Lady Eagles used to claim the women’s crown in the last UAAP season.
BaliPure fell to 2-10.
“This team is very young and they continue to learn every match,” said Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro. “Just what I’ve been telling them, every match is a learning process. We have to accept that we’re still not as strong as the other [established] teams but we’re going there for as long as we continue learning and aiming at what is above.”
Shannen Palec also scored nine points for the Flying Titans, who broke their slump with a hard-earned five-set escape over the Chef’s Classics Red Spikers last weekend.
Menchie Tubiera made 11 points while Grazielle Bombita struggled with eight points for BaliPure, which could only come up with a 20-kill effort against Choco Mucho’s 41, with the Water Defenders also yielding 26 points off their miscues.
