ZUS Coffee stormed into the knockout quarterfinals of the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference with a 25-20, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19 victory over Choco Mucho on Saturday in Candon City.
The unbeaten league leaders extended their franchise-best start to 6-0, marking their third playoff appearance in seven conferences.
And they did so with a 6-0 match-clinching run from a 19-all deadlock in a nip-and-tuck fourth set.
The Thunderbelles nearly melted down in the second set as a Maddie Madayag-led all-Filipino Choco Mucho rotation went on an 11-2 run to erase a 9-19 deficit, with a predominantly purple Candon crowd cheering them on.
She went on to match a four-year-old PVL pro record with 10 blocks in a single game, tying Riri Meneses’ mark for the most blocks in a match. Madayag finished with 18 points in the loss.
Stopping that surge was league-leading scorer and spiker Anna DeBeer, who delivered two decisive attacks to give ZUS Coffee a two sets to none lead.
Come the third canto, two costly DeBeer errors and a clutch hit from Royse Tubino extended the match to four sets. Their gutsy comeback went for naught in a late fourth-set collapse to miss out on a chance to force sudden death.
"Ganun naman lahat ng games eh, magiging tight talaga 'yan pero nandiyan naman 'yung tiwala ng team at coaches so gusto talaga naming maayos 'yung trabaho," said captain Cloanne Mondonedo who finished with 26 excellent sets and three points.
"Wala pa 'yung tagumpay pero tatrabahuin namin every game, one game at a time."
DeBeer posted a 20-point, 10-reception double-double, complemented by Chinnie Arroyo’s 11 points and Jovelyn Gonzaga’s 10 points and 11 digs.
Rookie middle Riza Nogales cemented her status as the team’s ace blocker with a career-high seven blocks to cap an 11-point night.
Alyssa Eroa stifled Choco Mucho’s hard-hitting offense with 26 digs and 14 receptions.
Only Cignal and Nxled stand between ZUS Coffee and a perfect eight-game sweep of the preliminaries, which would secure them the No. 1 seed for the first time.
Flying Titans lose steam
Behind Madayag’s historic night was a string of solid outings from their top guns.
Isa Molde came a dig shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 12 receptions, and nine digs.
Des Cheng stepped up in Choco Mucho's third-set fightback with 12 points.
League-leading digger and receiver Thang Ponce showed exactly why she’s atop the best libero race, finishing with 21 receptions and 19 digs.
Now at 2-4 for ninth place, Choco Mucho is on the brink of elimination and will need at least one win in its last two pool play assignments against Creamline and Cignal to stay in contention.
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