De Guzman, Pons, Rondina return to PVL clubs after national team service

THREE PREMIER Volleyball League (PVL) stars will make a much-awaited return to their respective mother clubs after their tour of duty with the national team.

Jia de Guzman and Bernadeth Pons should be back with the Creamline Cool Smashers and Sisi Rondina with the Choco Mucho Flying Titans when the PVL All-Filipino Conference unfolds Jan. 30.

Ms. De Guzman was originally scheduled to return to Creamline in the Reinforced Conference but eventually decided to skip it to focus on Alas Pilipinas where she was the top setter and captain in the Thailand Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

They eventually finished fourth.

Ms. Pons and Ms. Rondina also took a leave of absence to play in the SEA Games beach volley event where they were pivotal pieces in the country’s breakthrough gold medal campaign there.

“They’re returning to their PVL mother teams,” said Philippine National Volleyball Federation Chief Tonyboy Liao referring to Ms. Pons and Ms. Rondina.

Ms. De Guzman already stated in October that suiting up for Creamline in the PVL All-Conference is part of her timeline next year.

Ms. De Guzman and Ms. Pons should be what the doctor ordered for a hurting franchise that missed its first podium finish since joining the league in 2017.

Over that span, the Cool Smashers had 10 titles, four runner-up finishes and five third-place efforts.

Ms. Rondina, for her part, should help resuscitate Choco Mucho’s flagging fortune after ending up 10^th in the PVL on Tour and ninth in the Reinforced. — Joey Villar