Sisi, Eya announce return as Choco Mucho crushes Akari

Sisi Rondina and Eya Laure explosively reintroduced themselves to power Choco Mucho to a 25-17, 25-23, 25-20, crushing of Akari for a strong start in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The prized wingers showed no signs of rust despite their long layoffs from indoor volleyball as the Flying Titans staved off the Chargers to join Cignal in the opening day winners’ list.

Rondina, fresh off a golden conquest with Alas Pilipinas in the 33^rd Southeast Asian Games beach volleyball competition in Thailand last month, whipped up 16 points in her first indoor game in eight months.

She accounted for 14 of Choco Mucho’s 32 attack points.

Laure, after almost two years of hiatus due to a complicated departure from dissolved Chery Tiggo, found renewed spark in her new home, filling the stats sheet with 11 points. The Alas indoor team star had eight kills, two aces and a kill block while contributing nine excellent receptions and five digs for the Flying Titans.

“I’m happy with our performance especially in the second set, where we came back from a huge deficit and won the set. The performance of my players was beyond expectations,” Flying Titans head coach Dante Alinsunurin said.

The University of Santo Tomas products, reunited after suiting up for the indoor national team in 2024, guided Choco Mucho out of trouble in the last two sets following a dominating opening frame.

The Flying Titans recovered from an 11-17 deficit in the second set, blasting a closing 14-6 blitz to shock the Chargers.

After racing to a 5-0 lead to start the third frame, Choco Mucho found itself chasing Akari. The Flying Titans shattered 17-17 deadlock with a 7-2 rally to move at match point.

A service error by Des Cheng saved Akari a point before Dindin Santiago-Manabat finished off the Chargers with a wicked swing.

Fifi Sharma was the lone Akari player with 10 points. Celine Domingo had nine markers while Grethcel Soltones, Eli Soyid and Ivy Lacsina added six points each.