Choco Mucho’s new hires Aduke Ogunsanya and Isa Molde. CHOCO MUCHO TWITTER
MANILA, Philippines—Premier Volleyball League’s offseason saw a lot of player movement and one team that benefited a lot from that was Choco Mucho.
The Flying Titans were one of the most active teams before the start of the 2022 season signing Isa Molde, Desiree Cheng, Jim Ferrer, Aduke Ogunsanya, Thang Ponce, and Cherry Nunag.
This infusion of new talent to an already loaded roster brings forth early expectations, but the team knows work has to be done to meet those.
“What we need right now is to build our chemistry,” said Molde in Filipino ahead of the upcoming 2022 PVL Open Conference which opens in March.
Molde has been active in the club scene since 2018 and Choco Mucho will be her fourth team in as many years while her new teammate Ogunsanya will be suiting up for her second.
OUT OF COMFORT ZONE
Although Ogunsanya is joining a new team, this will be the first time that she will be out of the De La Salle-F2 system since 2017.
Ogunsanya said choosing Choco Mucho and teaming up with Ateneo rivals Bea De Leon, Maddie Madayag, and Kat Tolentino is the biggest jump she’s made in her career but she had to make the decision to elevate her career.
“I saw myself in a place where nothing is happening, I wanted to be in a place outside of my comfort zone, and of course I was also affected last UAAP season because we only had one game,” said Ogunsanya of her final year with the Lady Spikers.
Ogunsanya was De La Salle’s captain for Season 82 but that tournament got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I felt that I didn’t do much, in a way that season didn’t do justice to all the sacrifices we made. If you think about it, it’s been almost three years that I wasn’t able to play. I needed to do this for myself if not I’ll go crazy.”
Molde, meanwhile, said that this will be the first time that she won’t have a teammate whom she’s played with in University of the Philippines.
The former Fighting Maroon played with Marist Layug and Tots Carlos in her previous stints with PLDT and Motolite but she won’t have a UP teammate in Choco Mucho.
“Before it was an easy transition for me because I had some teammates in college who are also with me in the clubs I played for,” said Molde. “It’s not easy but they eased me into it because of the way they welcomed us into the team.”