Choco Mucho bucked a tight third-set loss and overcame Akari, 25-18, 25-22, 27-29, 25-19, to forge a do-or-die battle for the bronze medal in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Thursday, April 10.

After failing to contain the attacks for the Chargers late in the third, the Flying Titans held their composure and quickly regained their bearings in the fourth anchored on Sisi Rondina and Royse Tubino to even their best-of-three series and keep their podium finish bid alive.

Choco Mucho, though, can claim the bronze if the Petro Gazz Angels sweep the Creamline Cool Smashers for the title being played at the moment.

A rubber match, however, is scheduled on Saturday, April 12, if the Petro Gazz-Creamline finals series also goes to a decider.

Rondina, as expected, was explosive at the attack line, torching the net with 25 kills to finish with 26 points, while Tubino was equally unstoppable by firing 15 attacks for 17 points.

Rondina admitted exhaustion has finally caught up on them, but their job is not yet done. They wanted to erase the stigma of that stinging 24-26, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-11 Game 1 loss just last Tuesday, April 8, and finish the season on a high note.

“Despite sobrang pagod, pinakita namin na kaya pa rin naming ipanalo,” the hard-hitting spiker said.

“Nag-usap-usap kami. Sabi namin, hangga’t hindi natatapos ng 25 yung score, hindi kami titigil. Trinabaho lang talaga namin at nag-stick lang kami sa programa ni coach (Dante Alinsunurin),” she added.

Choco Mucho had the chance of closing the match early after turning a 13-15 deficit to 27-all, before Ivy Lacsina’s back-to-back kills extended the match and kept Akari alive.

But it didn’t dampen the spirit of the Flying Titans as they directed the game tempo in the fourth, leading 10-6 and never looking back.

Isa Molde also spelled the difference for Choco Mucho with 12 points, even as Cherry Nunag chipped in 11 points including two blocks. Deanna Wong accounted for 17 of the team’s 23 excellent sets.

Four players also finished in double figures for Akari with Eli Soyud scoring 16 points, Lacsina and Grethcel Soltones adding 15 points apiece, and Ced Domingo contributing 10 points, but their efforts couldn’t douse the fire of Choco Mucho.