Choco Mucho didn’t just welcome 2026 with fireworks. It claimed one of the most coveted names in Philippine volleyball and, in the process, quietly reshaped the balance of power in the PVL.
Just as the calendar flipped, the Flying Titans confirmed the arrival of Eya Laure, ending months of speculation and closing what many insiders dubbed the league’s biggest sweepstakes. The announcement rippled far beyond roster news.
For Sisi Rondina, it was personal. Her emotional reaction online said what words didn’t: a long-awaited reunion was finally real.
Laure’s signing brings back together a familiar spine that once carried University of Santo Tomas to the UAAP Season 81 finals. Rondina, Laure, Alina Bicar, and Caitlin Viray were the heartbeat of that Tigresses squad in 2019, a season defined by Rondina’s MVP run and Laure’s emergence as the league’s top rookie.
Years later, that same core now finds itself under one professional banner, older, battle-tested, and with unfinished business.
For Laure, the move closes a long detour. Her contract buyout from Chery Tiggo forced her into a year-long absence from PVL play due to a non-compete clause, a hiatus that could have dulled lesser players. Instead, she sharpened her edge elsewhere.
Wearing national colors with Alas Pilipinas, Laure helped deliver a breakthrough silver finish at the AVC Nations Cup in Vietnam, picked up bronze medals in the SEA V.League, and remained a fixture of the Philippine squad in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. When she returns to club play, she does so not as a comeback story, but as a more complete outside spiker.
The timing could not be better for Choco Mucho. The Flying Titans stumbled through the latter part of 2025, missing the playoffs as Rondina shifted focus to beach volleyball, where she made history by snapping Thailand’s eight-edition SEA Games gold streak. Laure’s arrival signals a reset, one built not just on talent, but on chemistry that already exists.
That chemistry has deep roots. Rondina and Laure last shared the court with Alas Pilipinas in 2024, and before that during Rondina’s UAAP farewell year, when leadership passed naturally from the veteran to the rookie. Both were named Best Outside Spikers in Season 81.
Around them were Viray and Bicar, forming a unit that pushed powerhouse Ateneo to the limit in the finals, falling only to a lineup led by Maddie Madayag, Kat Tolentino, and Deanna Wong. Years later, it is a curious twist of fate that much of that Finals-era talent now converges on a single PVL roster.
Laure, currently in the United States with her family, is expected to waste little time making her presence felt once she suits up. Choco Mucho had already shown it could reach All-Filipino Conference finals in 2024. Adding a prime outside hitter with international reps raises the ceiling considerably.
The rebuild does not stop there. Viray’s return after a brief stint with Farm Fresh feels like a homecoming aimed at unfinished work. Bicar’s presence deepens an already crowded setting corps that includes Wong, rookie Tia Andaya, and Jem Ferrer, giving the Titans flexibility few teams can match.
The front line has also been refreshed with the acquisition of young middle blocker Jaila Atienza from Nxled, following the departure of several veterans.
Taken together, these moves suggest more than a headline-grabbing signing. They hint at a deliberate attempt to blend history, versatility, and hunger into a roster built to contend immediately. For Choco Mucho, landing Eya Laure is not just about winning a sweepstakes.
It is about reclaiming momentum, rewriting narratives, and seeing whether old bonds, reforged on a bigger stage, can finally deliver a championship ending.