BANGKOK, Thailand — Redemption will be the battle cry of Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons and the rest of the Alas Pilipinas women’s beach volleyball team when they plunge into action in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Left empty-handed two years ago, the squad is determined to return to the podium in the competition to be staged in Chonburi starting on 18 December.
The Alas beach volleyball delegation along with its indoor counterparts, arrived here on Monday.
The Rondina-Pons tandem, as well as Alas’ Team 2 pair of Dij Rodriguez and Filipino-American newcomer Sunny Villapando, left no stone unturned in their buildup for the biennial meet.
Alas went through an eight-month buildup, which included a European training camp and a debut in the prestigious Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge.
“During those eight months, we joined a lot of leagues. The highlight was competing in Europe. And of course, the Challenge event here in the Philippines. That was huge for us. We joined one of the highest-level competitions in the Beach Pro Tour, where elite athletes compete,” said Rondina, whose partnership with Pons produced back-to-back bronze medals in 2019 and 2021.
Rondina and Pons reached the Challenge’s round-of-24 but fell short to Swiss stars Annique Niederhauser and Menia Bentele, 18-21, 24-22, 15-12, last October in Nuvali.
“We’re very grateful we got the chance to play against elite-level players. It was fun, and now we’re really excited to play beach volleyball again in the SEA Games. We’re looking forward to getting good results.”
The pair also ruled the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball Invitational after beating Villapando and Rodriguez, also a two-time SEAG bronze medalist, in an all-Alas final, 11-21, 21-15, 15-6.
“It’ll be Sunny’s first SEA Games. We explained to her how the tournament flows. And for our part, we want to show Sunny what it’s like to play while carrying the Philippines,” Rondina said.
“They can definitely do it. Honestly, sometimes we even struggle to beat them in training. So yes, they’re absolutely capable of competing at a high level.”
Meanwhile, Ran Abdilla, James Buytrago, Ronniel Rosales, Rancel Vargas and Edwin Tolentino banner the men’s squad aiming for a fourth straight podium finish.
Buytrago won bronze in 2019 and 2023. Abdilla also got two in the past two editions with different partners.