By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Negrense beach volleybelle Bernadeth Pons and Bacolodnon indoor volleyball player Fille Cainglet-Cayetano are set to represent the Philippine team in separate volleyball tournaments in Thailand.
Pons, a Talisay City, Negros Occidental native, will join the national women’s beach volleyball team along with Cherry Rondina, Dij Rodriguez and Gen Eslapor in two tournaments.
They will first compete in Roi-et in Thailand for the AVC Asian Beach Tour Roi-et Open from Sept. 10 to 12 and AVC Senior Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship from Sept. 14 to 17.
It will be Rondina, Pons and Rodriguez’s first international competition since helping the Philippines bag bronze with Jovelyn Gonzaga in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam last May.
On the other hand, Bacolod City native Cainglet-Cayetano will join the Creamline-Philippines squad in the 2nd Asean Grand Prix which will begin today in Nakhon Ratchasima.
This will be Cainglet-Cayetano’s second consecutive national team duty as she was also part of the Philippine team that placed sixth in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Women held in the country two weeks ago.
Cainglet-Cayetano will join Julia de Guzman, Diana Carlos, Celine Domingo, Jeanette Panaga, Michele Gumabao, Jorella de Jesus, Risa Sato, Pauline Soriano, Kyla Atienza, Kyle Negrito, Rosemarie Vargas and Rizza Mandapat.
Except for Indonesia, the Creamline-Philippines of head coach Sherwin Meneses have already faced the Thais and the Vietnamese in the nine-team AVC Cup for Women ruled by Japan.
The Creamline-Philippines will open its campaign against powerhouse Thailand at seven in the evening tonight, followed by Vietnam at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Indonesia at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
“It’s again a busy schedule for our national teams as they compete in these two tournaments in Thailand,” Philippine National Volleyball Federation President Ramon “Tats” Suzara said in a statement./PN
