On-fire Choco Mucho fends off late Chery Tiggo rally for sixth straight win

Choco Mucho held off a late rally by Chery Tiggo, eking out a 25-18, 25-23, 26-24 victory to extend its winning streak to six in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Saturday in Iloilo City. 

The Flying Titans ended the elimination round holding an 8-3 record ahead of the qualifying round where spots in the playoffs are at stake. The Crossovers, meanwhile, will close out the preliminaries with a 5-6 card. 

Choco Mucho found itself down 14-16 in the third set, but Isa Molde caught fire and fueled a wild 8-1 blast that allowed the Flying Titans to vault into a 22-17 separation. 

Chery Tiggo retaliated with a run of its own after a 5-1 rampage started by Cess Robles and capped by a rejection from Seth Rodriguez against Cherry Nunag that made it just a tight 22-23 affair. 

Sisi Rondina, though, squeezed it in between the block of Rodriguez and Alina Bicar to deliver the match point before Chery Tiggo scored two straight points off back-to-back errors from Choco Mucho for a 24-all deadlock.

Rondina and Dindin Santiago-Manabat made sure the game won't be dragged into another set as the veteran tandem put on the finishing bullet for the sweep victory. 

In the first game, PLDT continued its winning ways after making quick work of ZUS Coffee with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-15 win earlier in the day. 

The High Speed Hitters, who were coming off a streak-busting victory against defending champion Creamline, banked on Savi Davison and Majoy Baron as they ended their elimination round at 8-3 slate. 

Davison churned out 17 points anchored on 14 attacks and three blocks while Baron chipped in 10 markers.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News