Rondina, Pons vow improvement after early exit in beach volley return
Bernadeth Pons and Sisi Rondina in action during the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Nuvali. –HANDOUT PHOTO
In their beach volleyball comeback, Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons vowed to sharpen their game after falling short in the quarterfinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Nuvali.
The Alas Pilipinas pair dropped a close match to Romania’s Beata Vaida and Francesca Ioana Alupei, 21-18, 19-21, 12-15.
READ: Sisi Rondina returning to beach volleyball for 2025 SEA Games
“I’m proud of our performance here,” Pons said. “The preparation was really short, but we worked hard for this. Unfortunately, we fell short.”
The pair had less than a week to train for the event, which featured teams from 19 countries.
Pons scored with well-placed tip shots and off-speed plays but struggled with her blocking. Rondina delivered powerful attacks but had trouble with accuracy after shifting back from indoor volleyball, where the duo focused for the past two years.
“We have a lot to work on. I was looking to get that one kill block because that would have been huge in a close match like this,” Pons said. “But this is still a good start and we’ll do better in the next events.”
READ: Bernadeth Pons reunites with Sisi Rondina for beach volley return
Bernadeth Pons and Sisi Rondina in action during the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Nuvali. –HANDOUT PHOTO
Rondina said she remains committed to the team’s long-term goals, including a medal push in the Southeast Asian Games in December.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity, and we deeply appreciate the warm reception,” said Rondina, 28. “It just feels so bad that it ended early.”
Khylem Progella and Sofia Pagara also bowed out in the quarterfinals, falling to New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Olivia MacDonald, 17-21, 14-21.
READ: Bernadeth Pons enjoying AVC stint before beach volleyball return
Earlier in the day, the University of Santo Tomas stars advanced with a 21-16, 21-17 win over Vanuatu’s Sherysyn Toko and Majabelle Lawac in the Round of 12. They also defeated Danieke Prins and Annemieke Driessen of the Netherlands, 23-25, 21-11, 15-10.
James Buytrago and Rancel Varga, silver medalists in last year’s Nuvali leg, failed to reach the semifinals this time. They lost to Israel’s Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov, 21-17, 21-15, in the quarterfinals.
Buytrago and Varga earlier beat Australia’s Finley Bennett and Jed Walker, 21-17, 21-16, and Hungary’s Domonkos Doczi and Bence Attila Streli, 21-15, 21-19.
Rondina and Pons, bronze medalists in the 2019 and 2021 Southeast Asian Games, are expected to continue their campaign in upcoming tournaments in Europe and other international events.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said the goal is to accumulate ranking points for a possible wild card entry to the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide in November.
“Sisi and Bernadeth played very well. The chemistry is still there,” Suzara said. “Making the quarterfinals in this field is impressive.”
