Bombs away: Cherry Rondina comes off the bench, sparks Petron win in PSL Finals opener

MANILA, Philippines—Cherry Rondina is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in Philippine volleyball right now and her stature deserves the spotlight in whatever she goes to.

“The Cherry Bomb” is a five-time UAAP MVP in the beach volleyball tournament and was UAAP Season 80’s Best Scorer in the indoor tournament.

Despite her accolades, and reputation, Rondina doesn’t mind coming off the bench to help steer Petron to a record fourth title in the Philippine Superliga.

Rondina came off the Blaze Spikers’ bench in their 25-23, 25-11, 25-17 Game 1 win in the All-Filipino finals against F2 Logistics and it didn’t matter if he had a diminished role.

“I was just thinking that I want to do anything I can to help the team and energize them, that’s it,” said Rondina in Filipino Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Rondina came in as a substitute for Ces Molina and the 5-foot-6 hitter delivered with a game-high 12 points for the Blaze Spikers.

“I didn’t expect that I would play this way and when I entered the court I knew I had to play well for Ate Ces.”

Rondina added that she wasn’t hyped up despite going into the fifth straight finals meeting against the Cargo Movers.

“When I woke up I was only thinking that this was a normal game and that this wasn’t a championship game,” said Rondina. “What I did was talk to my teammates before the game and as a substitute I got their backs and I’ll do everything I can to help them.”

Rondina, though, admitted that she got a bit nervous when the game was about to start but it was Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos’ confidence in them that helped her get through it.

“I saw that my teammates were playing well and I almost told coach Shaq that I don’t want to come in because they’re already playing well,” said Rondina. “But coach Shaq told me to never doubt myself and that boosted me up.”