MANILA, Philippines — Choco Mucho asserted its mastery of Chery Tiggo, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23, to march to the quarterfinal in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena.

Sisi Rondina, once again, powered the Flying Titans but rookie Lorraine Pecaña and veteran Dindin Santiago-Manabat also rose to the occasion to book a ticket to the quarterfinals.

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LIVE: PVL All-Filipino Conference – Qualifying Round March 1

Choco Mucho, which finished fifth in the elimination record with an 8-3 record, will face the winner of the PLDT-ZUS Coffee qualifying game in a best-of-three series.

The two-time All-Filipino silver medalists needed to overcome a tough challenge by the Crossovers, erasing a 16-21 deficit in the third.

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Regine Arocha’s ace capped Choco Mucho’s run to take a 23-22 lead before Seth Rodriguez’s block tied the third anew. Rondina drilled the last two points to enter the playoffs.

READ: PVL: Choco Mucho riding 6-game streak into qualifying round

Former All-Filipino MVP Rondina had 18 points off 16 kills, one block, and an ace on top of 11 digs.

Manabat backstopped Rondina with 13 points, all on attacks. Pecaña had six points highlighted by three blocks, while setter Mars Alba finished with 13 excellent sets.

“Our mindset was to help each other. We always remind each other, ‘Just play, hit, and block.’ If you make a mistake, move on and forget about it so we can keep doing our job on the court,” said Manabat in Filipino.

Isa Molde only had four points but made 12 digs and three excellent receptions to help libero Thang Ponce, who had 11 receptions.

Manabat and Royse Tubino broke a tie at 21-all in the opening set with the former sending them at set point, 24-22, before Tubino clinched the frame with a block on Cess Robles.

Manabat also delivered the finishing touches in the tight second set to take a two-set advantage.

A week ago, the Flying Titans swept the Crossovers, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24, in Passi, Iloilo.

“I’m really thankful for the performance of my players. It was truly a team effort. It wasn’t just one or two players doing the offense; what really helped us was our floor defense. The better our floor defense worked, the more all my players kept playing well together,” said Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin. “They really responded to the challenge from Chery Tiggo. Every time we were down by three or four points, I felt like we could still catch up.”

Chery Tiggo will be fighting for the eighth seed with Nxled and the loser of the PLDT-ZUS game in the play-in round.

The Crossovers, who gave up 21 errors, banked on Ara Galang’s 18 points and 12 digs. Shaya Adorador delivered 12 points and eight excellent receptions.