Sisi Rondina’s extra effort continued to pay off as Choco Mucho extended its winning streak to five games after beating Akari in the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference on Saturday.
Rondina shared that she began doubling her efforts on defense shortly after the Flying Titans’ opening game loss against the defending champion Creamline, acknowledging her struggles on the receiving end against the Cool Smashers.
“Nung first game kasi sa Creamline aminado talaga ako na ako yung unang nawala lalo na sa receive. Ako, wala akong pakialam sa puntos ko,” said Rondina, who immediately checked the statsheet after entering the media room.
“Yung una kong tinitignan digs saka receptions kasi inaraw-araw kong mag-overload talaga.”
So far, so good for the 5-foot-6 dynamo as she tallied 11 excellent receptions along with 11 points in Choco Mucho’s 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 sweep of the Chargers at the Philsports Arena.
Rondina mentioned that she simply doesn’t want to rely on her teammates for defense and aims to contribute to keeping the balls alive on their side of the court.
“Araw-araw ko talaga siyang tinatrabaho kasi ayokong umasa, kasi katabi ko si Thang (Ponce), kasi katabi ko si Isa (Molde), or dati si Des (Cheng)… Kasi kinukuha nila yung trabaho ko na dapat meron din dapat akong (parte),” said the Cebuana outside spiker.
“Ayokong masanay kasi baka mawala na rin sa rhythm ba ng katawan ko, sa muscle memory ko.”
She went on, “So tyinatyaga ko kahit, ‘di ba coach? Boring naman talaga yung laging ganun. Aminado kami na nakaka-boring talaga yun, pero maganda yung kinakalabasan.
So lagi ko siyang cino-continue kahit sabi ni coach na ‘serve na, serve na’ – hindi, magre-receive talaga ako. Papracticein ko. Pinapagalitan ko lang din yung sarili ko kasi pangit yung mga nire-receive ko. Pero maganda ngayon kasi lumalabas naman po siya sa laro, which is yun, naka-11 successful receptions ako.”
The former UST superstar considers her 11-reception performance against the Chargers an ‘achievement.’ And she vowed to keep putting in the extra work moving forward.
“Ano sakin siya, achievement siya sakin kasi yun talaga problema ko and I keep working talaga sa receive. Kahit anong mangyari, sabi ko coach mangangako talaga ako sa inyo. Tatrabahuhin ko talaga reception, magooverload talaga ako hanggang matapos ‘tong liga. Kinasa ko na sa kanila yun.”
Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin was pleased with how Rondina responded following her disappointing defense against Creamline and praised her work ethic.
“Yung nangyari kasi talaga sa akin nung first game eh, yun talaga yung tumatak sa kaniya. Sabi ko naman eh nangyayari naman talaga yun. Tinrabaho niya talaga yun mula nung pagkatalo namin ng day na yun, kinabukasan ayun agad ang ginawa niya. Pinush talaga niya yung sarili niya,” said Alinsunurin.
“Alam naman niya na yun yung naging problema pero ‘di ko naman sinisi kasi laro eh, team ‘to eh, pero yun nga alam niya yung naging konting diperensya pinush pa rin niya sarili niya kaya hanggang ngayong tumatak na sa isip niya mula everyday ng practice namin kailangan niya magoverload ng receive niya.”
