Choco Mucho is slowly accepting the fact that its opposite hitter Kat Tolentino might not be able to return before the intense semifinal action begins in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.

Flying Titans head coach Dante Alinsunurin said that there is no specific timeline for Tolentino’s return, who is currently hampered with an auditory condition.

“For now, we don’t know if she will be able to come back. But we are now making ourselves feel at ease that she might not be able to come back this conference,” Alinsunurin said after the Flying Titans suffered a straight-set defeat to their sister team Creamline, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19, on Thursday.

In this conference, Tolentino established an integral role in Choco Mucho’s gameplan by logging a 24 percent attack efficiency and 26.79 percent success rate in blocks.

In fact, volleyball star Sisi Rondina admitted that Tolentino’s absence took a toll on them during their matchup against the defending champions.

“Kat’s (absence) is a big loss for us, but as they say, there’s a reason for everything,” Rondina said.

“Of course, we’ll wait for her return, but as of now, we’ll fill the spot she left and we’ll work double time to get better results.”

Rondina is the sole double-digit scorer on Thursday with 17 points as Choco Mucho failed to break Creamline’s 12-game win streak in their head-to-head match-up.

“We really need to win in our next game, because I know that the gap (with other teams) is so close, and we’re not assured that our team will be in contention,” Alinsunurin said.

The Flying Titans are eying to close out the preliminary round with a bang by carving a win against Farm Fresh on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.