Mondoñedo, the tie that binds Thunderbelles, is week’s best
Great teams have always been led by great setters, a fact in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) if one looks at champion squads and who led them to glory.
There’s no one greater in the league than the esteemed Jia de Guzman, the yardstick of them all and one who some relatively unknown in Cloanne Mondoñedo of the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles would like to emulate—not really to perform the way De Guzman does, but to lead her team to the Promised Land.
Mondoñedo had 27 excellent sets and four points in a gripping five-set reverse sweep of Akari, 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-12, 15-7, last Tuesday before tallying 26 more excellent sets plus three points in a 25-20, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19, conquest of Choco Mucho last Saturday in Candon City, Ilocos Sur.
And that was enough for Mondoñedo to earn Player of the Week honors, just the second local to achieve the feat after Erika Santos as the Thunderbelles stayed as the only unbeaten team in the Reinforced Conference.
And Mondoñedo says that her teammates are the ones pushing her to excel.
“You can see it in them that they really want to compete, to win,” Mondoñedo said in Filipino after the men and women covering the beat unanimously gave her the honor. “I’d like to do my job better because of them (her teammates).”
The former College of St. Benilde star and multi-time NCAA titlist and longtime Jerry Yee understudy edged out similarly strong performances from ZUS Coffee teammates Jovelyn Gonzaga and import Anna DeBeer, Capital1’s Sasha Bytsenko, Cignal’s KT Trebichavska, Creamline’s Coco Schwan and PLDT’s Savi Davison for the award.
Moving forward, Mondoñedo preaches for more consistency as the Thunderbelles have the opportunity to break through, just a few years removed from being a league laughingstock.
“I want to do a better job so that (my teammates) will have an easier time,” she said.
Though already assured of a playoff berth, Mondoñedo and the rest of the Thunderbelles still aim for a momentum-boosting 8-0 elimination round sweep, first against Cignal next Thursday, then against Nxled on November 18.
