Choco Mucho settles for 6th in 2021 Asian Club Volleyball

Choco Mucho ended the Philippines’ campaign in the 2021 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championships at sixth place on Thursday, October 7, at Terminal 21 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

Zhetysu VC overpowered Choco Mucho once again, 25-13, 25-11, 25-23, as the Kazakhs arrested the Philippines’ third-set comeback bid in the battle for fifth place.

Choco Mucho played its best set yet in the third behind Kalei Mau, Ria Meneses, and Dell Palomata as they came close to extending the match, 23-23, before Zhetysu wrapped it up with back-to-back points.

The Philippines finished at the bottom two of the seven-team tournament, with Choco Mucho finishing just a rung above Rebisco as it won over its sister team in the first classification round on Wednesday.

Valeriya Shatunova proved to be the best player of the game as she led Zhetysu to the straight-set victory.

Choco Mucho struggled early against Zhetysu, which holds the most titles in the Kazakhstan women’s volleyball league with nine championships.

Zhetysu cruised to a double-digit lead, 23-13, in the opening set as Choco Mucho gave up 11 errors.

The Philippine squad continued to struggle on both ends in the second set as Choco Mucho only mustered two attacks. Though Meneses managed to get the Filipinas within two points, 8-10, Zhetysu staged a 15-3 run to comfortably get the 2-0 lead in the game.

But Choco Mucho managed to challenge Zhetysu in the third set as the Philippine squad did not allow it to pull away early and even led 8-7 in the first technical timeout.

While Zhetysu regained control to wrest the lead by seven, 22-15, Choco Mucho rallied back to tie the score at 23-all behind Meneses. But the Filipinas faltered in the effort as Zhetysu won back-to-back points, the last off a Mau attack error, to close out the game.

The Rebisco men’s volleyball team will begin its campaign in the men’s event of the tournament starting Friday, October 8. – Rappler.com