By JAN CARLO ANOLIN
Volleyball star Sisi Rondina is determined to gain more experience in the sands that if given the chance, she would choose to represent the country in beach volleyball once more.
But at what point did the 23-year-old Rondina realize that she’s meant to raise the bar of the country’s beach volleyball?
It was after bagging the bronze medal in the Southeast Asian Games last year.
“Hindi [ko] namang sinasabing iiwan namin ‘yung indoor [volleyball] but nagbago po talaga ‘yung nag-bronze medalist po kami sa SEA Games,” Rondinal told The Prospects pod.
The former University of Santo Tomas standout recalled the warm welcome and feeling of receiving the medal in front of the Filipino crowd.
“Isang karangalan talaga na masaksihan ng mga Pilipino na sinuotan ka ng medalya. Ang sarap sa feeling na lahat ng pagod niyo, lahat ng pagbilad sa araw, lahat ng sakripisyo, worth it talaga,” Rondina said.
“Pagkasuot po ng medal, talagang doon ko na-feel na parang gusto pang mas umangat.”
The Rebisco-backed women’s beach volleyball team, composed of Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez, swept Singapore in two games at the Subic Tennis Court last December.
The Rondina-Pons duo defeated Singaporean Serene Ng and Ee Shan Lau 21-17, 21-13 while the Gervacio-Rodriguez tandem edged Eliza Chong and Gladys Lee.
“Gusto namin ni Pons na umangat pa… na magka-points as professional beach volleyball players dito sa Pilipinas. Gusto naming maka-gain pa ng experience,” Rondina added.
Before the 2019 SEA Games, the last time the Philippines bagged a medal in women’s league was in the 2005 edition in Manila courtesy of Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua.
The multi-awarded Cebuana skipper stressed the lack of experience from the present players since other countries get to complete in world tours.
She added that they cannot suddenly leave the responsibilities in the local volleyball scene due to the commitments in their respective clubs. Rondina currently plays for the Petron Blaze Spikers in the Philippine Super Liga.
But seeing the close-scoring results of SEA Games, the five-foot-six Rondina has set sights for the gold medal despite the unlikely resume of play due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Before po, pagkapaalam namin sa Petron, sinabi ko sa manager na ‘Hindi po namin kayo kakalimutan kasi nagpapasalamat kami sa inyo. Isa kayo sa mga tumulong sa amin. Gusto po namin talaga mag-focus sa beach volleyball,’” Rondina said.
Pangarap namin na magka-gold talaga. Kahit anong liga pa yan. Iba kasi yung nadadala pag marami ka nang experience, iba yung laro pag marami kang nang experience.”
