Choco Mucho’s Maddie Madayag and Isa Molde during a PVL semifinals game against Creamline Cool Smashers. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Choco Mucho has worked its way up the Premier Volleyball League to become a legitimate championship contender, and in this All-Filipino Conference, showed its readiness to win it all for the first time in franchise history after sweeping the semifinals.
And again, standing in the Flying Titans’ way is an old tormentor in Creamline which is back in full force starting in the 6 p.m. series opener on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“All I can say is that we’ve come a long way,” captain Maddie Madayag, a Choco Mucho pioneer, said shortly after sealing a second straight title series appearance by blanking Petro Gazz on Sunday night. “Until now, I still can’t believe we’re here already.
PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024 Finals SCHEDULE
“We need to go back to work to reach our goal (of winning a title) … we’ve experienced the Finals last conference, so that’s how it feels like. That’s what we want. We want more,” Madayag added.
That first Finals experience ended in heartache, as the Cool Smashers swept them in the best-of-three series.
The Flying Titans weren’t able to beat Creamline in 12 straight meetings, with the breakthrough win that touched off that semifinal sweep coming less than two weeks before, when Tots Carlos was given a pass by management to try her luck in Korea.
Staying humble
Creamline Cool Smashers’ Tots Carlos during the PVL All-Filipino Conference semifinals.–PVL PHOTO
Creamline teetered on missing the championship series because of that loss, and Carlos returned to power the Cool Smashers past Petro Gazz and Chery Tiggo to advance opposite the Flying Titans with both teams now at full strength.
That’s why it really isn’t fair to say that Choco Mucho would have the psychological edge coming into the game, and Madayag knows that.
“I think the team will stay humble because Creamline is Creamline,” she said. “They’re a very difficult team to beat [but] we have experienced that we can beat them so we will bring that coming to the Finals.”
READ: Choco Mucho to carry ‘hunger’ in PVL Finals rematch vs Creamline
Dante Alinsunurin, who took over at the start of last season, has changed the mechanics of Choco Mucho and thinks that it is about time that his wards, led by the powerful Sisi Rondina, finally reap the fruits of their hard work.
“Choco Mucho is really hungry to get a championship because the players and coaches have been waiting a long time to get that,” Alinsunurin said in Filipino.
Hunger is definitely the biggest weapon that the Flying Titans have, and whether that takes them to the next level remains to be seen.
In the meantime, Creamline again is an all too willing spoiler of a first championship party, and it is the experience of winning seven titles even before Choco Mucho has won its first that the Cool Smashers will be riding in this series.