Where Mars Alba 'on court antics' originated

MANILA, Philippines — Choco Mucho's Mars Alba delights the crowd whenever she has the opportunity to score as a setter, spiking the ball and making a flashy move after securing a point.

With PLDT trailing by two points in the last frame of the match, 10-8, Choco Mucho's libero Thang Ponce did something unusual as she set the ball to the playmaker, on which Alba flew and scored, 11-8, via an out of system play.

Alba celebrates in style to hype her teammates in a dreadful five-set match.

Back to the system and to the drawing board, Alba used her playmaking wits and activated Sisi Rondina and Royse Tubino to allow Choco Mucho take Game 1 of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals, 20-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 18-16, last Saturday.

Alba, a former setter of the now disbanded F2 Logistics, relished her playing experience going against former teammates in PLDT, seeing Majoy Baron, Kim Kianna Dy, Kim Fajardo, and Des Cheng on the other side.

"I am happy since I am going against them. It's okay when I do 'swag' since I won't receive any form of bashing. Since I still look at them as my elder sisters. They also jokingly say 'don't do well.' Kidding aside, if we're playing, I keep my focus. There's no elder sister when I am playing inside the court," she said pertaining to facing her former teammates.

F2 Logistics players were known for their "swag" moves and flashy celebrations, unapologetic in showing their confidence inside the court.

Despite Alba being on a different team now, the traces of their sister hood in F2 is still there as PLDT's Baron also celebrates in style whenever she blocks Choco Mucho's gunner Rondina.

Baron blocked Rondina's kill and signaled number three on her fingers, keeping a count on how many times she blocked the high-leaper.

With their own on court antics and ways inside the court, the crowd was well entertained. After this duel, Choco Mucho remained unscathed and has not lost any games yet in 2025 as the team rides an eight-game winning streak.

For Alba, the team still needs to keep their focus.

"In our trainings we were always reminded that it is the quarterfinals already, and we need to work double time. We force ourselves to give our 100-percent. What you do in training, and that's what will show inside the court," she said.

Alba finished the match with 16 excellent sets, adding three points on offense.