Choco Mucho eyes last PVL quarterfinal berth

MANILA – Choco Mucho seeks to secure the last quarterfinal berth in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference when it battles PLDT at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan City on Thursday.

The Flying Titans take on the High Speed Hitters at 3 p.m.

Choco Mucho is in ninth place with a 2-5 slate and seven points, half a game behind Farm Fresh (3-5) with eight points.

A victory will send Choco Mucho to the knockout stage, setting up a duel with top seed Akari (8-0).

If PLDT wins in five sets, Choco Mucho will get one point and end up in a tie with Farm Fresh. The set ratio will be used to decide the last quarterfinalist.

If PLDT wins in three or four sets, Farm Fresh will advance to the next round.

The High Speed Hitters are also hoping to improve their record, as they are currently sharing third place with the Creamline Cool Smashers and the Chery Tiggo Crossovers at 5-2.

Choco Mucho will rely on Greek import Zoi Faki and locals Dindin Manabat, Royse Tubino, Isa Molde, Maddie Madayag, Maika Ortiz, Mars Alba, and Deanna Wong to rebound from a 16-25, 19-25, 29-31 loss to Creamline on Aug. 17.

Elena Samoilenko, Erika Santos, Mika Reyes, Majoy Baron, Kiesha Bedonia, and Fiola Ceballos will be expected to perform well for PLDT, which bowed to Petro Gazz, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 14-16.

Meanwhile, other matches will pit Creamline against ZUS Coffee (0-7) at 1 p.m. and Chery Tiggo against Petro Gazz (4-3) at 5 p.m. (PNA)