Agony of defeat drives Flying Titans to keep dreaming

MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

A Premier Volleyball League crown remains elusive to Choco Mucho. But despite the latest bridesmaid finish, the search for glory continues for the Flying Titans.

“I always tell my teammates every time we play, [we have] to believe, trust [each other] and win,” Sisi Rondina, one of the conference’s best outside spikers, said in Filipino after Choco Mucho fell to a traditional conqueror in Creamline for the second consecutive Finals on Sunday.

“As long as we do that, we won’t have any regrets because we gave our best, and like what I said in the dugout, ‘let us never stop dreaming because it (championship) will come,” Rondina added.

The Flying Titans came into the best-of-three title series against the Cool Smashers as the favorites after having swept the semifinals.

But in front of more than 24,000 fans at Smart Araneta Coliseum, Creamline delivered another gutsy performance to score an epic 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 win for a sweep of the series and an eighth league title that left most of the Flying Titans in tears.

The Flying Titans are now far from being tagged glamorous participants as they have become a force after Dante Alinsunurin came to call the shots.

And of course, a huge chunk of that can also be credited to the arrival of Rondina, who won Most Valuable Player in the previous All-Filipino and was again the tip of the Choco Mucho sword for all of the last conference.

Make no mistake, Choco Mucho is not taking a second straight silver medal for granted as it only drives the Flying Titans more to have something of bigger value around their necks next time.

“I am still very proud of the team … like what the coaches said, they didn’t expect us to sweep the semifinals because we were down three [players] already,” Choco Mucho skipper Maddie Madayag said.

“We cannot be sad because it’s still a blessing that the Lord brought us this far despite a lot happening in our team,” she added. INQ