MANILA – Choco Mucho prevailed over ZUS Coffee, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20, for its second win in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series late Thursday night, Oct. 15, 2026, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Sisi Rondina-Rosales delivered 15 points, all from attacks, as the Flying Titans secured the victory in one hour and 18 minutes.
Eya Laure added 13 points and nine excellent receptions, while Kat Tolentino had eight points and seven digs for the Choco Mucho, which seized the early lead in the first of three series leading to the grand championship.
Alina Bicar orchestrated the offense with 13 excellent sets, while Dawn Catindig anchored the floor defense with 14 digs.
“Sobrang happy, siyempre, na-control namin ’yung game mula first set hanggang sa third. Siguro, nagpakita talaga kami na ’yung ine-ensayo namin, kung ano ’yung puwede naming gawin sa loob, adjustment (I’m super happy, of course — we controlled the game from the first set all the way to the third. I think we really demonstrated what we’ve been practicing, what we’re capable of doing on the court, and our ability to make adjustments),” head coach Dante Alinsunurin said.
He stressed the importance of containing the opposing team’s dominant middle attackers by putting more pressure on their serves.
Choco Mucho will next face Farm Fresh on Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
AC Miner finished with nine attack points, while Zam Nolasco and Riza Nogales added seven points each for the Thunderbelles, who will battle the Capital1 Solar Spikers on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m., also at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The PVL’s revamped season features three series — Siklab, Sigla and Sinag — culminating in a grand champion next year.
The ongoing Siklab Series follows a single-round-robin elimination format running through December, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals. The top two semifinalists will enjoy twice-to-beat advantages, while the championship will be decided in a best-of-three series.
The Sigla Series, scheduled from January to March, will follow the same general format but adopt an all-power system, allowing coaches to field their strongest lineups and deploy their preferred tactics without mandatory rotation rules. This differs from the all-to-play rule applied in the Siklab Series.
Points accumulated in the first two series will be combined to determine the overall standings and seedings for the final Sinag Series, scheduled from March to April.
The top two teams in the cumulative standings will advance directly to the semifinals, while teams ranked third to ninth will compete in play-in and stepladder rounds to determine the other two semifinalists.
The Sinag semifinals will be played in a best-of-three format, with the top overall points earner facing the second team to emerge from the stepladder phase, and the second-ranked team taking on the stepladder’s top qualifier.
Capital1 survives Akari
Earlier, Bella Belen scored 35 points to lead Capital1 to a 28-26, 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 21-19 victory over Akari.
The former three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player also had 20 excellent digs and 19 receptions.
Capital1 bounced back from their opening-game loss to Choco Mucho in Cebu over the weekend. / PNA