FILE–Bernadeth Pons during his stint with Petron in the PSL. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses believes that Bernadeth Pons will be a huge asset in their upcoming title-retention bid in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference starting on June 29.
After officially welcoming the beach volleyball star on Friday, Meneses said that Pons’ transition from the sands back to the taraflex court has been smooth so far despite her three-year hiatus in indoor volleyball.
“Pons will be a big help to our team because she is a two-way player. [We can rely on her] both offense and defense,” the Creamline coach told Inquirer Sports in Filipino.
“And of course, she is already a veteran so she can easily adapt to our system,” he added.
The last time Pons saw action in club volleyball was in 2019 when she played for Petron in Philippine Superliga and won a couple of titles. Until she and Sisi Rondina decided to take a break from indoor action and focus on the Philippine women’s beach volleyball team for the past three years.
“She is adjusting well because it’s still volleyball. As of now, she is doing fine and she’s been training with us for one week,” Meneses said.
Creamline, with newest addition Bernadeth Pons, during a team lunch. –MICHELE GUMABAO INSTAGRAM
The 5-foot-8 spiker also had a storied career in the UAAP not only in beach volleyball but also in indoor as she led the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws to a Finals return in Season 80 last 2018 but settled for runner-up after losing to the De La Salle Lady Spikers.
Pons, who won two bronze medals in the Southeast Asian Games beach volleyball, will boost the wing spiker rotation Creamline as she joins three-time PVL MVPs Tots Carlos and Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza, and Michele Gumabao.
Creamline, which ruled the All-Filipino Conference amid the absence of the injured Valdez, is eyeing its second straight crown this season and back-to-back Invitationals title reign.
It will be a tougher title defense for the Cool Smashers as the PVL will feature three new teams, Gerflor, Farm Fresh and Foton, who will be joining mainstays Petro Gazz, F2 Logistics, PLDT, Chery Tiggo, Cignal, Akari, and Choco Mucho.
The Invitationals will separate the 11 teams into two groups with the top two squads advancing to the round-robin semifinals, where a pair of foreign clubs will join the competition.