BRINGING IT HOME
Whatever medal Sisi Rondina earns always ends up in the same place: home.
And it always goes to the same person.
“Every time I have a medal, I go home to Cebu with it and give it to my father when he fetches me [from the airport],” Rondina told the Inquirer in Filipino. “It feels good to go home with a [medal, regardless of what] the color of it is.”
A few conferences ago, Choco Mucho was in the PVL Finals fighting for a first-ever club title against sister team Creamline.
That seems like a distant memory now that the Flying Titans seem no longer as dominant as they used. Still, for Rondina, the chance to finish on the podium is an opportunity they are not letting go to waste.
“An achievement is still an achievement,” Rondina said. “Wherever we end up, I am still proud because there’s a lot of people who want whatever we have now—battling for the bronze. So we’ll cherish this and we’ll not let this go [without a fight].”
Choco Mucho finally found its footing to snap a four-game skid that started in the semifinals.
The Flying Titans leveled the series to one game apiece following a 25-18, 25-22, 27-29, 25-19 victory over the Chargers on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
‘Everything has a reason’
With Creamline also tying its championship series with Petro Gazz later in the night, Choco Mucho would have to finish the job on Saturday.
“A podium is a podium and it is everyone’s job [to leave it all on the floor] so that we don’t have any regrets,” she added. “As they say, everything has a reason and we’ll wait for that reason.
“[The gold] might not have been given to us now, there’s still plenty of chances for that to happen.”
After listless campaigns, the Titans emerged as among the league’s top contenders. But in the franchise’s best performances when they reached the championship round of the same conference twice previously, they ended up with bridesmaid finishes.
Choco Mucho had a rocky start in this conference before finally getting its mojo back and stringing together 10 straight wins from the eliminations to the quarterfinals, an incredible feat in itself despite several injuries hounding its players throughout the six-month long conference.
And Rondina hopes that everything continues to align for them when they step back on the court on Saturday for the no-tomorrow match.
“Getting this win, everyone’s happy because it’s not yet over and we still have a chance to get the podium that’s waiting for us,” Rondina said.
