Expect a more explosive Cherry Rondina in her final year for UST

MANILA, Philippines—It’s the end of the road for University of Santo Tomas’ firecracker Cherry Rondina and she promised that she would bring a lot more intensity the floor come the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.

Rondina made a name for herself by being a high-scoring explosive machine and she’s not slowing down one bit in her final collegiate year.

“Of course I’ll still give everything in my play, that won’t ever be gone,” said Rondina in Filipino during the Golden Tigresses’ practice Thursday at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion.

Rondina, nicknamed Cherry Bomb, used her volatile energy into becoming Season 80’s Best Scorer after averaging 21.14 points per game, but her unbridled effort was also too high of a bar that her teammates sometimes failed to emulate.

“I just hope that we work together, everyone cooperates, and everything will work out fine this season,” said Rondina. “I pray, always, that we can finally get this season, because everyone knows we’ve been aiming for that.”

“Of course we’ll have to work for this.”

Rondina added that even though she’s won almost every competition she’s been in, her goal is to just stay in the present especially since Season 81 would be her last with UST.

The 5-foot-7 open spiker was part of the Petron team that captured the 2018 Grand Prix and All-Filipino titles in the Philippine Superliga and was also the leader of the UST side that went perfect in the Season 81 beach volleyball tournament.

“I’m just living in the present right now and I’m not focusing on too far ahead because I don’t want to get trapped,” said Rondina. “This is my last year in the UAAP, with UST, so it’s still Go USTe!”

“Actually I’m still not ready to leave but this is life and there are exits so we have to finish this strong.”