There was nothing to be ashamed of as Sisi Rondina and Choco Mucho made their way out of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference best-of-three finals series following a sorry five-set loss to Creamline late Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Rondina said they have no regrets as they played their hearts out despite missing the services of some players whose firepower, defense and experience could have helped them reverse the outcome of the pivotal Game 2 that was witnessed by a massive crowd of more than 23,000.

“Everything that happens, I know there’s a reason for it. And I know that you all see how we played the game. We didn’t give the (win) that easily to them. I told (my teammates) that if we lose, we should never give them the game that easy,” said Rondina, who fired 28 attacks, two aces and a block in the penultimate game of the series.

“I always tell them every time we play, we should believe, trust, and win. So, if we just do that, we’ll have no regrets because we did our best. And I also told them not to stop because sooner or later it will come to us.”

It had been a rocky season for the Flying Titans.

After failing to exact revenge for their Second All-Filipino Conference finals loss to the Cool Smashers, the Flying Titans’ woes piled up when they lost opposite spiker Kat Tolentino to injury.

Then, their star spiker Des Cheng also wasn’t able to suit up after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament while middle blocker Aduke Ogunsanya also fell prey to the same injury after a bad fall in their season-opener this year.

Still, Choco Mucho team captain Maddie Madayag stressed that she’s still very proud of what they achieved as they pushed the Cool Smashers to the limit highlighted by a breakthrough win in the opening salvo of the semifinal round.

“I’m still very proud of the team, especially that a lot (of players) weren’t able to play for us. The coaches even said, especially when Kat (Tolentino) wasn’t around, that they didn’t expect that we’re going to sweep the semis because we’re down three people already,” Madayag said.

‘I’m very excited, especially that our teammates will be coming back. Hopefully, they can play by the end of this year. I am not sure about the timeline, but I’m just excited to return.’

“But I always say that if a teammate falls down, there’s always someone who steps up to bounce back. So, I’m very happy with the run, though we fell short, I’m still proud of the team’s performance.”

Madayag also expressed optimism about the future as they take all the lessons they learned in their second-ever finals appearance since the club was formed in 2019.

“I’m very excited, especially that our teammates will be coming back. Hopefully, they can play by the end of this year. I am not sure about the timeline, but I’m just excited to return,” Madayag said.

“(The difference) is really far, now we have two Finals experiences that we will bring to the team. We have reached very far when it comes to maturity.”