Games Thursday(Filoil EcoOil Arena)2 p.m. — Nxled vs Galeries Tower4 p.m. — F2 Logistics vs Cignal6 p.m. — Petro Gazz vs Choco Mucho
CHOCO Mucho dynamo Sisi Rondina, one of the favorites to win the Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, is no longer the one-dimensional attacking force she was known for.
She cloaked herself with a defensive armor to her already potent offensive acumen.
She was referring to her forgettable game in Choco Mucho’s four-set defeat to sister team Creamline on opening day a month ago at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, a stench that still rankles until today for the former UAAP MVP and Southeast Asian Games medalist. But since then, Ms. Rondina has worked hard on improving her floor defense that she admitted was her weakness ever since. And it worked wonders as the Flying Titans went on a five-game rampage capped by a 25-23, 25-21, 25-19 trouncing of the Akari Chargers on Saturday (Nov. 11) at the PhilSports Arena since then to improve to 5-1.
In that particular game, the first thing Ms. Rondina did was check on her defensive stats and found 11 receptions on her name, which was second only to libero Thang Ponce, or the same number of points she had.
A win over Petro Gazz, which is fighting for dear semifinal life with a 4-3 record, would extend Choco Mucho’s streak to six and send it to joint second with Chery Tiggo (6-1) and closer to league leader Creamline (6-0).
Also jostling for semis positions are F2 Logistics (4-2) and Cignal (5-2), which face off at 4 p.m.
Nxled, enlivened by its shock 22-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-16 win over big sister Akari Tuesday for its second win against five defeats, collide with Galeries Tower (0-6) at 2 p.m. — Joey Villar