Cebuana spiker Rondina vies for spot in Foton Pilipinas

TALENTED Cebuana spiker Cherry Rondina is in the mix for a spot in the Foton Pilipinas squad that will represent the country in the upcoming AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship from Sept. 3 to 11 at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan City.

The Compostela native has made a name for herself in the national scene with several beach volleyball titles to her name. Now, she focuses her attention on making the Tornadoes team that will be battling some of the best ladies volleyball teams in the region. The country was represented by Petron which finished in seventh place in the previous edition of this prestigious competition.

Foton Pilipinas had already kicked off its preparation and is tipped to switch it to a higher gear once imports Lindsay Stalzer and Ariel Usher arrive next month. So far, showing up consistently in their twice-a-week training are reinforcements Aby Marano of F2 Logistics, Jen Reyes of Petron, Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga of RC Cola-Army. Foton stars Jaja Santiago, Angeli Araneta, Patty Orendain, Maika Ortiz, Ivy Perez and Rhea Dimaculangan are also training regularly, proving that they are serious in giving other teams a very good fight.

Rounding up the pool are Bia General, Kara Acevedo, EJ Laure and Carol Cerveza. Villet Ponce-de Leon will be the head coach with former national team skipper Ian Fernandez as chief assistant.

Foton Pilipinas landed on a relatively light bracket in Group A together with Lien Viet Post Bank of Vietnam and the Hong Kong national team. But things will get testy in the next round as perennial contenders Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei, Jakarta Electric PLN of Indonesia, April 25 of North Korea, Zhetysu Almaty of Kazakhstan and Sarmayeh Bank of Iran are expected to give Foton a serious fight.