Choco Mucho’s Kat Tolentino reacts during the match against Chery Tiggo at the 2022 PVL Open Conference. Photo from PVL
MANILA, Philippines — Kat Tolentino attributes her late game heroes to her new Choco Mucho teammates, who helped her deliver finishing hits to stop a Chery team Tiggo dared in their five-set match in the Premier League Open Volleyball Championship.
Tolentino nailed shots in the deciding set to finish with 23 points and help Choco Mucho go undefeated past Dindin Santiago-Manabat’s 29-point burst for Chery Tiggo, 25-21, 16-25, 25-17 , 17-25, 18-16, in Pool A on Sunday at the Paco Arena.
The Filipino-Canadian tennis player, who scored three points in a row to erase an 11-13 deficit in the fifth set, was amazed at the character portrayed by her teammates, also by others. recently played Des Cheng, Cherry Nunag and Aduke Ogunsanya, against the defending champions. .
“I was really shocked to hear that we had a lot of new players coming in. But that showed our bravery on the field. We really worked together, because I felt everyone contributed. Whoever is brought in by the coach, they contribute,” said Tolentino after launching 19 attacks and 4 saves.
“And I am grateful to have been able to count on my teammates. I could look at them during the fifth set and know they were backing me and I had theirs. ”
Choco Mucho celebrates in the match against Chery Tiggo at the 2022 PVL Open Conference. Photo from PVL
Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro has agreed with his longtime player since Ateneo because he knows she will be effective in scoring, but he also credits all of his players as Cheng , Ogunsanya and Nunag for keeping the team afloat in the fifth inning.
He also commended Deanna Wong’s excellent play, the tiered defense of Denden Lazaro-Revilla and Bea De Leon, who tested late in the set and also scored clutch hits.
“It’s normal for Kat to have spots like that. But I really commend her teammates because without her teammates, Kat wouldn’t be serving like that,” said Almadro, who lifted the squad to 2-0. “That’s what I like about this new team, everyone is doing well in their roles, everyone is happy with their roles and they’re really a family.”
Tolentino, who has led two different components of the Flying Titans in 2019 and 2021, admits this more diverse roster is still a work in progress but she’s glad the squad has shown offensive versatility and defended after two games.
“Every team is different. I can see this team slowly working their way up, especially in this game where they built our character. Every choco mucho team that I join, I just try to focus on doing my role well. And this team has really helped me do my own thing because they helped me take over, dig, spike, and contain. It’s not just me, so I’m grateful they are my teammates,” she said.
The defending Best Opposing Player was delighted with their claim of victory over the team that eliminated them in last year’s semi-final. But she stressed that Choco Mucho has only won its first two matches and will still face Pool A leader Cignal (2-0) on Tuesday and F2 Logistics (2-1) on the Wednesday before the fourth round. conclude.
“It was a good win. But of course, the tournament is not over yet this is still the second game. It feels like a great win but we still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot more teams to play and it’s just a great start to this tournament. I hope from here we will continue to improve,” said Tolentino.
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