Choco Mucho Flying Titans in Game 1 of the PVL All-Filipino Finals against Creamline Cool Smashers. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Choco Mucho has its back against the wall after losing the all-important Game 1 of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Finals to its achilles heel: sister team Creamline.
While the Cool Smashers are gunning to add glory to their dynastic reign when Game 2 comes at 6 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Flying Titans are fighting to extend the series to an all-or-nothing Game 3—which coach Dante Alinsunurin has not yet given up on.
“We still trust in our players and the players’ trust is still in us,” Alinsunurin said. “We know where we had lapses … we need to change our mindset when Sunday comes that we will really take the game.”
Creamline is a win shy of an eighth overall championship, sixth in the All-Filipino, with coach Sherwin Meneses maximizing the Cool Smashers’ deep and well-knit bench.
As expected, Jema Galanza and Tots Carlos fired on all cylinders but Creamline knows that its reinforcements such as the highly efficient Michele Gumabao, Bernadeth Pons, Bea de Leon and Mafe Galanza played a huge role to usher it to victory.
First franchise title
“I knew that Choco Mucho’s system is always in place. No. 1 for coach Dante [Alinsunurin] is to stop the [starting] players so the bench stepped up,” Meneses said. “Teamwork helped us win and not just one, two or three players.”
And that would be another thing for Choco Mucho to worry about aside from finishing strong.
The Flying Titans took the opening frame and dictated the pace of the remaining sets of Game 1 only to allow Creamline to regain control toward the end of the last three.
“The players understand that we really need to come back. When the players left the dugout, they left [behind] what happened [in Game 1], although there were regrets,” Alinsunurin said as Choco Mucho shoots for a first franchise title in its second trip to the Finals.
“But I told them that the series is not yet over, what’s important now is we come back strong and work for Sunday,” he added.
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