Cherry Rondina. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Gone are the days where Cherry Rondina would carry University of Santo Tomas solely on her shoulders.
Rondina was almost a one-person army during the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament when she had to lift the Golden Tigresses and in a herculean effort that resulted into just four wins against 10 losses in the year.
This time, though, Rondina has star rookie Eya Laure and a healthy Milena Alessandrini, Season 80’s Rookie of the Year, in UST’s campaign in Season 81.
Rondina admitted that her responsibility lightened up a bit with the addition of Laure and the return of Alessandrini, who missed four games in 2018 due to an injury.
And her words rang truth since UST had a three-pronged attack in its five-set win over Adamson University, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-6, Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“My load certainly got lighter by a lot because I don’t have to tell my teammates what to do because they’ll just do their job without being told to do so,” said Rondina in Filipino.
Rondina still finished with 17 points but so did Laure while Alessandrini added 15 points.
“I’m really thankful because Eya and Milena are there to cover up for me,” said Rondina. “This really is a team right now.”
“I don’t like to think that I didn’t have any help last year since all I thought of was I just want to play, but with the arrival of Eya and the others I feel that I really do have help this season.”