Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons bowed out of the Volleyball World Beach Volley Pro Tour Challenge following a nail-biting 18-21, 24-22, 15-12 loss to Switzerland’s Annique Niederhauser and Menia Bentele yesterday at the Nuvali Sands Court by Ayala Land in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
‘It was a sorry loss,’ Rondina said after the Round-of-24 defeat. ‘They (Swiss) didn’t want to give up.’
After taking the opening set, the Filipinas looked poised to reach the next round. They got things going in the second set where the Swiss lost their composure after committing a spate of service and return errors.
But Niederhauser and Bentele survived and sent the match to a decider that saw them regroup further to frustrate the local bets in the tournament hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation led by Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara.
‘But we’ll take this loss as a learning experience and we’ll be back stronger especially in the Southeast Asian Games in December,’ said Rondina
Rondina and Pons were the last pair standing among the seven Philippine teams – four women and three men – in the event that ends tomorrow.
Making the Round of 24, however, was already a breakthrough for Philippine beach volleyball.