SANTA ANA, Cagayan – Winning may be a habit for Sisi Rondina, but the Creamline 1’s ace is not taking things lightly in the BVR on Tour.
“Ako honestly, kinakabahan pa rin ako. Kahit naglalaro ako. Kahit kilala ko ‘yung mga kalaro ko. Sobrang kinakabahan ako kasi kahit anytime, puwedeng magbago yung ihip ng hangin, ‘yung laro. Like hindi mo malalaman ‘yung kakalabasan ng laro mo,” Rondina said in a TV interview.
“Ayun, stick to our goal. Focus lang and nag-e-enjoy lang kami,” the four-time BVR champion added.
Living up to the billing as heavy favorites, Rondina and Bernadeth Pons played their usual game to rule the first leg on Monday (Oct. 25), having won all of their six matches, without dropping a set in the bubble.
Without a doubt, Rondina’s chemistry with Pons worked wonders. Starting as the tandem known as “SiPons” in 2017, the erstwhile collegiate rivals are always on the same page to be successful in every tournament.
“Same goals and alam mo iyon. Pareho kaming mag-trabaho. Pareho naming ibinubuhos yung commitment namin sa lahat ng kino-commit namin,” Rondina said.
“Hindi mahirap kasi siguro, ginugusto lang namin lahat,” she added.
Rondina had all praises for Good Health-CDO, which is composed of former college teammates Babylove Barbon and Gen Eslapor, for giving her and Pons a good fight during the finals.
Creamline 2’s Krung Arbasto, meanwhile, is so grateful for their men’s championship with former college rival Jude Garcia.
“Sobrang thankful kasi nagbunga ang lahat ng pinaghirapan namin. Ang dami naming sinakripisyo sa tournament na ito,” Arbasto said in the same interview.
“Ang lahat ng ginagawa namin ay para sa bayan,” the six-time BVR winner added.
Like Rondina and Pons, Arbasto and Garcia had their backs marked when the second leg begins on Thursday.
“Sobrang bigat ng pressure sa amin kasi kailangan din na i-maintain na nasa top kami. Siyempre marami din ang gustong pumalit sa amin. Hindi namin pababayaan na mawala sa kamay namin. Kaya nagpapakahirap kami sa ensayo namin,” Arbasto said.
PLDT (Rancel Varga and Efraem Dimaculangan) and Tuguegarao (James Pecaña and AJ Pareja) were the teams Arbasto was impressed with most as he and Garcia are working double-time to correct the lapses they committed in the first leg.
“Iyon talaga ang best games namin. Ibinuhos namin lahat para manalo sa games na iyon,” Arbasto said.
“Hopefully makalaban namin sila sa second leg. Kailangan naming pag-aralan ni Jude para tuloy-tuloy ang laro namin. Mukhang nagkaroon kami ng problema sa climate, sa usap sa loob ng court. Iyon ang mga adjustments na kailangan naming gawin,” he added.
Grateful for another tournament to play during the pandemic, Rondina and Arbasto thanked the Philippine National Volleyball Federation, the BVR, and their mother club for making things happen.
The former University of Santo Tomas sand court stars have resumed training Tuesday (Oct. 26) morning for their quest of completing a sweep in this Cagayan town. (BVR) – bny
