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

Three Premier Volleyball League (PVL) stars, Jia de Guzman, Bernadeth Pons, and Sisi Rondina, are set to return to their respective mother clubs for the upcoming PVL All-Filipino Conference starting January 30. De Guzman and Pons will rejoin the Creamline Cool Smashers, while Rondina returns to the Choco Mucho Flying Titans.

De Guzman had initially planned to return to Creamline for the earlier Reinforced Conference but chose to skip it to focus on her national team duties with Alas Pilipinas. She served as the team's captain and top setter during the Thailand Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, where the squad finished in fourth place.

Similarly, Pons and Rondina took leaves of absence from their PVL teams to compete in the SEA Games beach volleyball event. They played pivotal roles in the Philippines' successful campaign, which resulted in a breakthrough gold medal victory.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation Chief Tonyboy Liao confirmed the return of Pons and Rondina to their PVL mother teams. De Guzman had also previously stated in October that playing for Creamline in the All-Filipino Conference was part of her planned timeline for the upcoming year.

The return of De Guzman and Pons is seen as crucial for the Creamline Cool Smashers, a franchise that recently missed its first podium finish since joining the league in 2017. Prior to this, the team had achieved significant success with 10 titles, four runner-up finishes, and five third-place efforts.

Meanwhile, Sisi Rondina's comeback is expected to help revitalize Choco Mucho Flying Titans, which struggled in recent tournaments, finishing 10th in the PVL on Tour and ninth in the Reinforced Conference.