PHL women’s spikers make SEA Games debut
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter
FOLLOWING the debut of its men’s counterpart early this week, the Philippine national women’s volleyball team makes its first on-court appearance today in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Set to take on the host team at 2 p.m. at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Center 11, the Philippine women’s spikers look to begin their bid in the regional biennial sporting meet on a winning note as they aim for a podium finish to improve on their fifth-place showing in the previous edition of the Games in Singapore in 2015.
Tasked to banner the country’s cause in women’s volleyball is a selection of professional and collegiate standouts, who trained for the past couple of months and competed in different tournaments, the last one in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship held here in the country, to better prepare themselves for the tough grind awaiting them in Kuala Lumpur.
Making up the team are Aby Maraño, Mika Reyes, Jaja Santiago, Kim Fajardo, Maika Ortiz, Alyssa Valdez, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Dawn Macandili, Frances Molina, Rhea Dimaculangan, Gen Casugod and Jovelyn Gonzaga.
On the reserve list are Kim Dy and Denden Lazaro. Coach of the team is Francis Vicente, the bench tactician of the University of the East Lady Warriors at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
In the 2017 SEA Games, the Philippines is bracketed in Group B of women’s volleyball, along with Malaysia and Vietnam.
In Group A are defending gold medalist Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia.
Tournament format calls for the top two teams from each group advancing to the crossover semifinals with the winners battling it out in the gold medal game after.
In 2015, the Philippine women’s team failed to get past the group stages.
In the 2017 AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship where it competed in prior to going to the SEA Games, the Philippines finished at eighth place out of the 14-team field.
Along the way, however, it got to defeat Vietnam, making their SEA Games encounter tomorrow, all the more anticipated.
In the lead-up to its debut, it has been reported that team officials have decided to limit the team’s engagement with the media covering the games so as to keep it focused on the task at hand.
But they also said the players are in good spirits and excited to get it going and compete.
“We are hopeful that the training and exposure and the hard work that the [women’s and men’s teams] put in preparation for the SEA Games will translate to them being competitive,” said Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas, Inc. President Joey Romasanta in a text message to BusinessWorld yesterday.
