Sisi Rondina-Bernadeth Pons lead Filipino charge as Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour kicks off in Laguna

 The Philippines’ beach volleyball elite are set to make waves on home sand as the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour: Challenge level tournament serves off Thursday at the Nuvali Sands Court in Santa Rosa, Laguna — a first-of-its-kind event hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.

All eyes will be on the dynamic duo of Sisi Rondina of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans and Bernadeth Pons of the Creamline Cool Smashers, who headline the country’s main draw entries. 

The celebrated tandem, known for their relentless energy and chemistry, will test their mettle against Brazil’s Mylene Thainarra and Talita Simonetti at 3 p.m. on center court.

Rondina, who led the Philippines to a bronze medal in the 2023 SEA Games, acknowledged the challenge that comes with competing at the Challenge tier — a tougher level compared to the previous Futures events.

“We expect a strong opposition because we are competing in the Challenge level—far more competitive than the Futures,” said the former UST standout. “But we will be ready for tomorrow against anybody. We trained for this.” 

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HOME BEACH

Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons lead the Alas Pilipinas beach volleyball squad in the main draw of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour at Nuvali on Thursday.

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Earlier in the day, Sunny Villapando and Dij Rodriguez will face New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Olivia McDonald at 1:20 p.m., while Kly Orillaneda and Gen Eslapor will go up against Anniina Parkkinin and Vilhelmiina Prihti of Finland at 2:10 p.m., both matches taking place on center court.

On the men’s side, James Buytrago and Ran Abdilla — bronze medalists at the Cambodia 2023 SEA Games — will open their campaign against Australia’s world No. 47 tandem D’Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse at 10:10 a.m.

The Philippine pairs are eager to make a strong showing after a tough qualification round on Wednesday, where all three Alas Pilipinas duos fell short in a rain-hit day that tested both skill and composure.

Jenny Gaviola and Alexa Polidario came close to pulling off a major upset against Canada’s Amanda Harnett and Devin Corah before yielding, 15-21, 16-21. Still, both players remained upbeat, reflecting on the learning curve of their first international outing as teammates.

“This is our first time to play together in an international competition, but we gave it our best although we failed to snatch the opportunity,” said Gaviola of the Philippine Coast Guard and Muntinlupa City. “We learned a lot of things in this match as we saw how our opponents adjusted when they trailed.”

“It was a bad moment. We lost our focus in this mental game,” added Alas Pilipinas’ Brazilian coach Joao “Kioday” Luciano Simao Barbosa. “It’s the same result with our men’s game earlier.”

In the men’s qualifiers, Larry John Francisco and Edwin Tolentino bowed to England’s Freddie Bialokoz and Issa Batrane, 15-21, 10-21, while Ronniel Rosales and Rancel Varga fell to Canada’s Luke Se Greeff and Martin Litch, 17-21, 15-21.

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