CHOCO Mucho head coach Oliver Almadro showed no sign of disheartenment despite sliding to 1-3 in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference standings.
Coach O on Choco Mucho loss to sister team
Instead, Almadro only has positive takeaways from a 22-25, 14-25, 22-25 loss to sister team Creamline on Saturday night.
"We lost today but I like the character of my players," he said of his undermanned squad who paraded only nine players against a loaded Creamline.
"I'm counting those positives na meron kami. We have the block, we have good receive today and we minimized our errors."
Despite missing five players to injuries and health issues, the Flying Titans put up a gallant stand and held the Cool Smashers in the first and third frame before conceding in front of 15,237 fans at Mall of Asia Arena.
Although Creamline edged out Choco Mucho in terms of attacks with a 50-29 advantage, the nine-woman team was able to provide better net defense with five blocks against the Cool Smashers' three - courtesy of team captain Bea De Leon and Deanna Wong.
At the floor, Denden Lazaro swept the taraflex with match-high 18 digs, while Ponggay Gaston and Isa Molde provided excellent first ball with 11 and nine, respectively, for a total of 29 receptions - just on par with the Cool Smashers'.
And most importantly, the Flying Titans were able to minimize their errors to 20 - something the team has struggled with for the past four games.
"It is the first time na nababa namin ng 20 lang yung errors namin, imagine kung kailan kaunti pa kami," he said.
But the Flying Titans will no longer suffer a depleted lineup come Thursday, as go-to scorer Kat Tolentino, Des Cheng, Cherry Nunag, and Thang Ponce might already see action in their remaining games, the soonest against the High Speed Hitters, Alamadro revealed.
"They’ve been cleared already... I guess soon they will be ready. They will be ready soon," he said.
Choco Mucho is in a must-win situation as it faces streaking PLDT on Thursday, 2:30 p.m., at FilOil Flying V Centre.
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