Sisi Rondina announced her arrival in the Premier Volleyball League in a big way, emerging as the highest scorer during the Invitational Conference pool play.
The Choco Mucho star led the league in points scored with 104 in five games in Pool B, leading the Flying Titans to a 3-2 win-loss record—falling just short of a place in the semifinals.
They secured a seventh-place finish on Saturday after defeating Chery Tiggo in straight sets at the Philsports Arena. With Rondina’s numbers already the league-best, head coach Dante Alinsunurin knows that the 5-foot-6 high-leaper out of the University of Santo Tomas can do even more in the next conference.
“Oo naman, marami pa. Sabi ko nga sa kanya na magtulungan kami, marami pa siyang mailalabas at maitutulong sa team,” said Alinsunurin, who is in his second conference with the Flying Titans.
The Cebuana player also emerged as the second-best spiker with a success rate of 39.57 percent in 230 attempts. She also ranked seventh in digs with an average of 2.84 per set. All that while still adjusting back to indoor play after focusing on beach volleyball for the past four years.
After getting her feet wet this Invitational, Rondina vows to grow more under Alinsunurin’s supervision for the betterment of Choco Mucho. The Flying Titans finished seventh for the fourth-straight conference.
“Sabi ko lang na itutuloy-tuloy lang namin kasi effective and maganda yung programa ni coach. Ayun, back to the board ulit kami, training ulit, and trabaho ulit,” said Rondina.
Despite another preliminary round exit, Alinsunurin believes that Choco Mucho is on the right track to succeed. The crowd darlings won their first two games before losing two of their last three matches to settle for the classification round.
Aside from Rondina, another UST product, Caitlin Viray, has stepped up, while still getting contributions from Des Cheng, Maddie Madayag, and Cherry Nunag.
“Natuto na kaming manalo. Continue lang namin yung naging progress namin ngayon. Bukod sa panalo, syempre yung tiwala sa bawat isa. Sana magtuloy tuloy pa yung kung ano yung meron kami ngayon,” closed Alinsunurin. (Jan Marcus Montevirgen)
