Cebu City, Philippines—Cebuana volleyball superstar Cherry “Sisi” Rondina shifts to the sand court once again as she teams up with Bernadeth Pons in the the main draw of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open on Friday, May 24, 2019, at the White House Beach Station 1 in Boracay.
Reunited in the sand court, Rondina and Pons are going all-out to improve the country’s best finish of fifth place in the Manila Open last year despite the tremendous odds.
“Sa ligang ito, nandito na yung mas mga beterana, malalaki. Still, makakakuha din kami dito ng experience at may matutunan kami in this league at sa mga upcoming games namin,” said Rondina, who was recently named as the UAAP’s Athlete of the Year for Team Sports.
It has a tremendous year for the Compostela, Cebu-native as she also won the MVP award for indoor and beach volleyball.
The highly popular Rondina-Pons tandem debuted in the 29th Southeast Asian beach volleyball tournament in Singapore two years ago when the former collegiate rivals from University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University made it to the quarterfinals.
The duo are ready for what lies in the table in a tough international field.
The fifth Philippine pair, Babylove Barbon and Gen Eslapor, bowed to Gerda Grudzinskaite and Karole Virbickaite of Lithuania, 17-21, 14-21, in Thursday’s qualifiers.
Other Filipina pairs competing in the 1-star event organized by the Beach Volleyball Republic are former Southwestern University product Dij Rodriguez and Bea Tan, Jackie Estoquia and DM Demontaño, and Fiola Ceballos and Patty Orendain.
Air Force’s Ranran Abdilla and Jesse Lopez will spearhead the country’s men’s campaign, which also includes collegiate standouts James Buytrago and Krung Arbasto, and Cebuanos Mike Abria and Jade Becaldo. /bmjo