Choco Mucho rebounded from a draining five-set victory over Petro Gazz last Tuesday, weathering Chery Tiggo’s fightback for a 25-9, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17 victory and the solo lead in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference prelims at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Saturday night, March 2.

While Sisi Rondina continued to captivate the crowd with another stellar performance, Kat Tolentino flourished with her big offensive game, finishing with 17 points to clinch the game’s top honors and power the Flying Titans to their third straight victory.

Rondina fired 23 points following a 24-point explosion against the Angels and added 13 excellent receptions, while Maddie Madayag shone with six blocks for a 10-point output and Cherry Nunag, Isa Molde and setter Mars Alba chipped in eight, six and five points, respectively.

Alba also came away with 20 excellent sets, while Thang Ponce made 22 excellent digs in an exciting defensive duel with Buding Duremdes, who had 14 digs.

Despite its early success, Choco Mucho is set for a break before returning to action against Cignal on March 14.

But the long respite is expected to further fortify the Flying Titans, who have consistently displayed their firepower and teamwork, dominating even against top contenders in the league organized by Sports Vision.

Their first-set rout of the previously unbeaten Crossovers highlighted Rondina and Tolentino’s pivotal roles in their relentless offensive strategies.

Although the Crossovers lived through another set with a stirring come-from-behind win in Set 3, the Flying Titans put their act together in the fourth, leading from start to finish to stretch their win streak.

They were actually poised for a sweep after sitting on an 18-15 cushion but the Crossovers came out of a huddle an organized lot, uncorking a stifling 8-0 run to seize a five-point lead.

Madayag broke the spell with a slide attack but Eya Laure’s powerful hit between Alba’s arms brought the team to set point. Rondina’s head-shot to Aby Maraño momentarily stalled the Crossovers, but a service error from Royse Tubino allowed Chery Tiggo to stay in the game.

Duremdes played a crucial role in the Crossovers’ late third-set comeback, successfully defending against Rondina’s stinging spikes, paving the way for Laure’s series of powerful hits and a 23-18 lead.

But Choco Mucho took four of the first five points in the fourth and remained in control the rest of the way, fending off the Crossovers’ comeback attempts on Tolentino’s series of assaults.

Ara Galang led Chery Tiggo with 14 points while Eya Laure pumped in 13 points and Mylene Paat and Maraño added 10 and seven points, respectively, for Chery Tiggo, which slipped to 2-1 in a tie with Petro Gazz and PLDT.

Chery Tiggo threatened last at 12-13 but Choco Mucho rattled off three straight points with Tolentino firing away a cluster of hits to make it a 19-14 bulge.

Molde hiked the lead to six with a blast following a brief exchange and Rondina and Madayag combined to close out the Crossovers with a couple of hits and blocks, respectively.