SANTA ROSA, Laguna — Riding high on their historic regional success, the country’s premier beach volleyball duo is transitioning to the global stage to face true Olympic caliber. The celebrated tandem of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons will spearhead the local campaign at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Challenge, which fires off on Thursday at the Nuvali Sands Courts.
Representing Alas Pilipinas, the star-studded pair views the prestigious hometown showcase as a vital environment to gather structural experience and collect high-value international ranking points.
The Nuvali Challenge represents the second-highest tier of competition on the global pro tour. For Rondina and Pons, the hometown homestand serves as their major post-tournament follow-up after securing a historic golden milestone late last year:
[Dec DISCLOSURE: Historic SEA Games Gold in Bangkok] ──► Alas Pilipinas Tandem Enters Main Draw │ ▼ (The Competitive Jump)[Nuvali Challenge Stage] ◄── Facing Paris & Tokyo Olympians ◄── [Second-Highest Pro Tour Tier]
The baseline shift between regional Southeast Asian matchups and the international tour is immense. While the duo locked down the region last December, Rondina was intensely candid about the completely different competitive gear required to survive the upcoming main draw:
“What we showed in the SEA Games won’t be enough here. We’ll need to give double or even triple the effort because the level of players here is completely different. Our goal is to keep up with them and deliver consistent performances.” — Sisi Rondina
The star-studded women’s division brings a world-class field directly to Laguna’s sand courts, featuring multiple decorated international pairings and veteran Olympians:
[ ELITE INTERNATIONAL VOLLEYBALL FIELD ]
│
┌───────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
[ THE TOP SEEDS ] [ THE OLYMPIC SILVER ] [ THE PARIS FORCE ]
• Corinne Quiggle & • Taliqua Clancy & • Monika Paulikiene &
Chloe Loreen (USA) Stefanie Fejes (Australia) Aine Raupelyte (Lithuania)
• Hunting for their second • Fronted by Tokyo 2020 • Battle-tested European
Beach Pro Tour medal. Olympic Silver Medalist Clancy. beach heavyweights.
The elite roster also features defending Nuvali Challenge champions Anniina Parkkinen and Valma Prihti of Finland, alongside high-performing international rosters from France and the United States.
Beyond their own high-pressure main draw campaign, Rondina expressed immense pride in the rising developmental baseline of the country’s secondary sand squads.
Showcasing the pipeline depth, fellow University of Santo Tomas (UST) standout stars Sofiah Pagara and Khylem Progella turned heads during a dramatic opening qualifier match. The young Filipina duo displayed incredible clutch performance, surviving an intense, deep-set battle to outlast Germany’s Mareet Maidhof and Tabea Schwarz (21-19, 28-26).
While Pagara and Progella ultimately missed the main draw after dropping a hard-fought qualifying finale to Hungary’s Lilla Villam and Stefania Kun, their early defensive grit points toward a sustainable, highly competitive trajectory for home-court volleyball on the international map.