By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Bernadeth Pons and Cherry Ann Rondina will reunite to headline the Alas Pilipinas beach volleyball team as it bids to return to the podium in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Chonburi, Thailand starting December 18.

The tournament marks the first time the “SiPons” duo will play together again since 2021.

Their absence as a pair in the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games ended the country’s streak of women’s beach volleyball bronze medals, as both competed with different partners.

Rondina, 29 years old, enters the competition fresh from a standout run in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), where she won her first PVL Most Valuable Player award in 2023 and led the Choco Mucho Flying Titans to back-to-back finals appearances.

She was also part of the Alas Pilipinas indoor squad that captured bronze medals in the AVC Nations Cup and SEA V.League.

Meanwhile, Pons played a key role in the Creamline Cool Smashers’ historic PVL Grand Slam and earned her first professional MVP honors in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference.

Joining them in the women’s lineup are Fil-Am standout Sunny Villapando and two-time SEA Games bronze medalist Gen Eslapor.

The men’s beach volleyball team will be anchored by veterans Ran Abdilla and James Buytrago.

Buytrago, a former National University star, will aim for his third SEA Games medal after bronzes in 2019 and 2023.

Abdilla, a former Spikers’ Turf MVP, is also eyeing a third podium finish following his bronze-medal performances in 2021 and 2023.

Rounding out the men’s roster are Ronniel Rosales, Rancel Vargas and Edwin Tolentino./ASC, WDJ