THE duo of SISI Rondina and Dzi Gervacio, the Philippines’ best team bet in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Manila Open, swept United States’ Lindsey Fuller and Kaley Melville, 21-12, 21-16, at the start of the women’s main draw yesterday at the Sands SM By The Bay.
Although first-time partners in the sand court, Rondina and Gervacio seemed to have played together for so long, as the two used smart plays, solid attacking and sharp service against the much-taller Americans to give the country the much-needed win in the one-star tournament.
“We just played. We didn’t look at their perceived advantage over us and we didn’t think of how much bigger and taller they were,” said Rondina, who trained only with Gervacio for two weeks but has apparently connected so well.
“What we did was just showcase what we were capable of, what we could be proud of as Filipinos in front of the crowd rooting for us,” she added.
Rondina is the most experienced among Philippine team members, having played with Bernadeth Pons in last year’s 29th Southeast Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in Singapore.
Other Filipinas who are making their FIVB World Tour debut were not as fortunate as they dropped their main draw openers.
DM Demontaño and Jackie Estoquia bowed to top-ranked Michelle Amarilla and Erika Bobadilla of Paraguay, 19-21, 13-21. Charo Soriano and Bea Tan were overwhelmed by Japan’s Ayumi Kusano and Takemi Nishibori, 10-21, 9-21, while Karen Quilario and Lot Catubag lost to The Netherlands’ Katja Stam and Julia Wouters, 13-21, 11-21.