CHOCO Mucho clinched the No. 7 seed, ending the preliminaries with a 27-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19 win over ZUS Coffee, in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Thursday at the Playtime Filoil Centre.
With both teams already headed to the play-ins, the Flying Titans were able to snap a two-game skid and rose to 4-5.
The win wasn’t enough to spare Choco Mucho from the first phase of the play-ins where two of the bottom four teams will be eliminated right away.
ZUS Coffee, meanwhile, remain stuck in that danger zone and dropped to a dismal 1-8 after a sixth straight loss.
As such, the two teams will meet again for survival in the first play-in stage.
Deanna Wong had the Choco Mucho attack humming, orchestrating an offense that saw five Flying Titans finish in double digits.
The veteran playmaker tallied 14 excellent sets and added five points of her own.
Sisi Rondina led the way with 18 points and 20 receptions, while Kat Tolentino chipped in 12. Lorraine Pecaña added 11 more, with captain Des Cheng and Maddie Madayag contributing 10 apiece.
“Sobrang ganda nito para sa’min, na motivation na rin na meron kaming dala-dala,” said Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin.
“Kinaya namin silang dominahin ngayon pero may mga adjustments pa kaming kailangan gawin [para sa play-in].”
Heads-up 'til the end
Despite winning just once in nine preliminaries games, ZUS Coffee made Choco Mucho work in a tightly contested opening set.
The longest rally of the match came on set point, with the Flying Titans up 26-25, before Thea Gagate’s attack error finally handed Choco Mucho the frame.
Gagate and Jovelyn Gonzaga quickly made up for that stumble, powering the Thunderbelles to a far more convincing response in the second set to level the match.
That turned out to be ZUS Coffee’s last real stand.
Choco Mucho stormed to an 18-10 lead in the third set and never looked back, reclaiming control of the match in emphatic fashion.
The Thunderbelles still made one last push in the fourth, saving five match points from a 14-24 hole before Eya Laure checked in for her lone appearance and delivered the final point on a drop shot.
Gonzaga paced ZUS Coffee in defeat with 13 points and 12 digs, while Gagate added 12 markers.
Alyssa Eroa also did her part on defense with 13 digs and 11 receptions, but it was not enough to keep the Thunderbelles afloat.
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