Sisi Rondina stepped up in crunch time to power Choco Mucho to a hard-fought, 21-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-11, 15-11, escape over ZUS Coffee in the first stage of the  2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Play-in tournament Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The winger scored six of her 27 points in the deciding frame, including the game-winning smash as the Flying Titans advanced in the next phase of the knockout stepladder round.

Choco Mucho came back from a 1-2 match deficit before holding off the Thunderbelles’ late fifth set rally to walk away victorious in the two-hour, 11-minute marathon.

“Before the game we told our players to go all out because there’s no more tomorrow if we lose,” Flying Titans coach Dante Alinsunurin said.

Rondina smashed 26 of her points on kills and added 15 excellent receptions. Maddie Madayag added 19 markers on 14 spikes, three kill blocks and two aces, Eya Laure had 13 points off the bench and Kat Tolentino chipped in 12 markers and 10 digs for Choco Mucho.

The Flying Titans extended a slim 3-2 lead to six points in the fifth set and held a 12-5 advantage after a Laure kill. ZUS Coffee fought back with four straight points to close in within three.

Choco Mucho reached match point on a Tolentino kill but Laure committed a service error before Rondina delivered the finishing blow.

Riza Nogales and Thea Gagate scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the Thunderbelles. Cess Robles, Kate Santiago and Chinnie Arroyo had nine markers each.