Despite playing without an import, Choco Mucho rallied to its first win in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference at Cignal’s expense, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 27-25, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Anyse Marlee Smith was not able to play yet for the Flying Titans, as her paperworks are still incomplete — an unrelated case to the standoff between the league and the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) on import clearances.

Choco Mucho found the valuable contributions from its local mainstays, led by middle blocker Maddie Madayag, who had 18 points and six blocks, and Isa Molde, who fired 17 attack points.

“Sanay naman kami na may mga [nangyayaring unexpected]. Choco Mucho naman is a very resilient team. Whatever you throw at us, I think we can already adjust at this point,” said Madayag during the postgame press conference.

Team captain Des Cheng had 14 points, while star libero Thang Ponce did what was expected of her, shutting down the Cignal scoring with 32 excellent digs and 20 excellent receptions.

Sitting on a 2-1 set lead, Choco Mucho trailed late in Set 4, as the Super Spikers were poised to force to a decider, 21-23, after a Rose Doria-Aquino hit.

A Royse Tubino off-speed hit kept life in Choco Mucho, as a Madayag hit from an in-form back set by Tia Andaya knotted the game at 23-all.

As the game went beyond the limit, Dindin Santiago-Manabat found the open spot to reach match point once more in the extended period, 25-24, but Heather Guino-o was there with her off-the-block hit to keep the thriving Cignal.

However, the Santiago-Manabat and Madayag duo found the close out, with an into-the-block hit and a game-clinching service ace, 27-25, to officially nail their first win, following their discarded first triumph over Capital1 last week.

For their part, Super Spikers star Vanie Gandler had 15 points, while Greek import Eva Chantava was held to only 10 points. (ABS-CBN News)