PVL: Capital1 edges out Choco Mucho, finishes third in Pool A

MANILA, November 5 ------ After tallying just its second sweep win in franchise history, Capital1 went on to follow it up with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-19 straight-set triumph over a more established Choco Mucho crew in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Coming from a 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of Cignal on Friday, the Bella Belen-led squad continued to strike, earning their third win in Pool A to finish third. The victory allowed the Solar Spikers (3-2) to edge out the Flying Titans in the standings (2-3), and they will play the lower-ranked teams in the other pool in the next round. "This kind of process is super good that we [won] in straight sets. But we need more, and we’re gonna fight for more," said coach Jorge de Brito during the postgame press conference.

It was an unfortunate result for the Flying Titans, as they actually emerged victorious over Capital1 during the opening day of the import-laden tournament on October 7, 33-31, 26-24, 25-23, but the outcome was voided as the league and participating teams decided to replay those matches.

Capital1 managed to escape the Choco Mucho attack on Set 2, 26-24, thanks to Belen's determination late in the frame. After Belen gifted the Solar Spikers a 23-22 lead on back-to-back points, a Leila Cruz service error gave life to the other side, 23-all. Belen found the corner to propel her team to set point, but a net fault from their side knotted things up once more. Rachel Austero had a lucky break as she found the kill after a miscommunication on their side, and Belen capitalized on it with a backrow hit to register a 2-0 set lead. Belen was benched midway through Set 3 as she fell down because of cramps, but she didn't need to return as import Sasha Bytsenko supplied the much-needed firepower for Capital1.

Bytsenko had a personal 3-1 run from the 22-18 count, capped by a gutsy game-winning drop ball hit to complete the straight-set win. Star import shone with 17 points on 15 attacks and two aces to go with eight excellent receptions and five excellent digs, while Belen finished with 11 points. Austero stepped up this time, complementing Bytsenko and Belen's showing with eight points and six excellent digs. On the other hand, reinforcement Marlee Smith had 12 points to pace the Flying Titans, while Maddie Madayag was stellar on the net with six blocks and had a total of 11 points, but those were down the drain as they absorbed the loss.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com