Foton logs 1st win as Rondina shines

CHERRY Rondina had an over-the-top reaction to practically every point she scored, hauling Foton to the win column Thursday night after a 25-11, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21 victory over Generika in the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference women’s volleyball.

Rondina celebrated each of her game-high 21 points with either a stomp or a kick or wild fist pumps, pumping up the Tornadoes, who grounded the Lifesavers and thrilled the crowd at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

While Rondina’s collegiate exuberance served the Tornadoes well this time, Foton coach Vilet Ponce de Leon admitted they are trying to calm her down and improve her focus.

“She is young and full of energy, she performs best when she is not hyper,” said De Leon. “So the challenge for us was how to tone her down.”

That would be a tough task for De Leon as Rondina appeared to be in fifth gear all the time.

“I love this game, so when I’m in the court I give it my all,” said the flashy outside spiker from the University of Santo Tomas. She made 19 attacks, one block and one ace.

But more importantly, Rondina supplied energy for Foton and provide a perfect alternative for the team, whose offense is largely hinged on 6-foot-4 middle blocker Jaja Santiago.
With Rondina and UST teammate EJ Laure, the Tornadoes blew past the Lifesavers in the first set. But they suddenly lost steam in the second set as Generika’s own UST alums Chlodia Cortez and Ria Meneses as well as Shaya Adorador doubled down on defense.

“Our first game loss (to Petron) did us as favor because it woke us up,” said De Leon. “Now everybody is doing their share. It’s a total team effort.”

The Lifesavers appeared to have found their range after posting an 18-13 lead in the third set, until Santiago started scoring and completely disrupted Generika’s defensive patterns.