By Gio Carlo D. Castro

As the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball formally opens its eight decade season, each competing academes are definitely gearing up to get their hands on the main course of the tournament – the championship crown. But for the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, it’s a different story now.

After their eight-six record last season, the Morayta-based volleybelles will be pinning their promises, dreams, and hopes along with their new team captain Bernadeth Pons.

“As a team captain, ikaw ‘yung binigyan ng responsibility to lead the team, pero sinasabi ko naman sa [kanila] na lahat kami pwede maging leader eh, so tulong-tulong pa rin kaming lahat (As a team captain, you are the one given the responsibility to lead the team, but I’m always telling my [teammates] that we can all be leaders, so we’re still helping each other),” Pons said.

The mentality of playing one game at a time, one step at a time is what exactly the 21-year-old Pons wants as they charge to claim the championship crown for the green-and-gold community.

“Kapag kaya naman huwag manuod ng ilang games, gawin mo. Kasi minsan nawawalan ka ng focus kapag pinapanuod mo (When you can avoid watching some games, do it. Usually sometimes you’ll lose your focus when you’re watching it),” Pons said.

“One game at a time, one step at a time. Kung sino lang ‘yung kalaban namin, ‘yun lang muna ‘yung focus namin, (Whoever our opponent is, that’s what our focus for the mean time),” Pons added.

The 5’7” outside hitter of the team is now being recognized in the tourney as “The Unstoppable Pons” and “BernaDEATH by Pons” for her performances inside the court – to name a few, her floor defense, strong attacks, and her hits that will surely kill the momentum of the opponent.

The Negros Occidental native has now played almost five years in the helm of FEU and has experienced three final four appearances during her UAAP career. She was selected as well to be one of the players to represent the Philippines in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Beach Volleyball Championships.

Moreover, she also played with the Petron Tri-Activ Spikers in the 2016 Philippine Super Liga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference in which she received her second Best Outside Spiker’ award.

Her credentials as a volleyball player prove that an experienced student-athlete like her serves not only just a leader, but also as one of the women of action to the powerhouse team.

Donning her number 2 jersey along with her mission to achieve greatness while bravely leading her squad, Pons is beyond grateful to the entire FEU community before leaving her collegiate career behind.

“Sobrang thankful kami sa lahat ng mga sumusuporta sa team.Hopefully, patuloy nila kaming suportahan kasi mahaba-haba pa ‘yung season (We’re very thankful to everyone who supports the team. Hopefully, they can still continue supporting us, because the season is still long),” Pons ended.

Together with the charge of the FEU Women’s Volleyball Team, the unstoppable Pons believes that the spirit of the Lady Tams is on a different level this season. The veteran hopes that this will be a huge difference compared to their last season’s campaign as they set on bringing the 30th championship title to the gates of Morayta.