Choco Mucho’s Des Cheng stretched out of the Philsports arena due to heat exhaustion. PVL Photo
MANILA, Philippines —Due to heat exhaustion, Des Cheng was rushed to the nearest hospital in the middle of Choco Mucho’s five-set loss to F2 Logistics at the jampacked Philsports Arena.
Cheng, who still finished with 13 points, was stretchered off the court late in the fourth set and left the venue in an ambulance.
“She was brought to the hospital. She needs to hydrate to recover,” said Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin after Choco Mucho’s 25-21, 17-25, 25-17, 21-25, 16-18 loss to F2 Logistics in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference on Tuesday evening.
“Des really sweats a lot. Even during practice, she changes her shirt maybe around eight times. Today, I think she may have changed three times. She always brings extra uniforms.”
Choco Mucho’s Des Cheng in action against F2 Logistics in the PVL Invitational Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Sisi Rondina, who carried the Flying Titans with 28 points, bared that Cheng is already recovering well.
“She’s already doing okay. She already sent us a message through chat,” Rondina said in Filipino.
The people inside the arena and both squads felt the heat with 7,067 fans witnessing the thrilling game.
But Rondina stressed it wasn’t an excuse for the close loss as the Flying Titans choose to simply learn from it.
“We’re not going to reason out. We’re not going to use the heat as a reason, because that’s something we have to manage as players,” she said. “F2 really worked hard for it and we came up short. We understand the situation because there were really a lot of fans, so the cooling of the airconditiong could’ve been an issue.”
Choco Mucho slid to a 2-1 record tied with Cignal and Petro Gazz, which it battles on Saturday.