COMING up with a fourth-place finish will be the goal of the Foton-Filipinas Tornadoes.
Team manager Alvin Lu said this after he revealed the names of 20 elite players that will compete in the Asian Volleyball Confederation-Asian Women’s Club Championships.
“They are practicing every day. Hopefully, walang injuries. At least may laban tayo. We’re expecting that they make it to the Top 4,” said Lu during the team’s presentation Friday at the Crimson Hotel in Alabang.
The Tornadoes, whO earned the right to represent the country after winning last year’s Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix, is among 13 teams taking part in the AVC slated from Sept. 3 to 11 at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan, Laguna.
Foton will be led by Jaja Santiago of Foton, who formally became the fifth member of the elite team that will compete in the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship set at the Mall of Asia Arena from Oct. 18 to 23.
The other players in Foton’s AVC roster are veterans Angeli Araneta, Patty Orendain, Ivy Perez, Bia General, Rhea Dimaculangan and Mika Ortiz.
The rookies and prospects for inclusion are Cherry Rondina, EJ Laure and Carol Cerveza.
Aby Marano of F2 Logistics reinforces the squad, with Rachel Ann Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga of RC Cola-Army. They also brought in Jen Reyes of Petron.
American spikers Lindsay Stalzer from Bradley University in Illinois and Ariel Usher of the University of Portland are the team’s imports.
Lu said the Vilet de Leon-squad will be trimmed down further to a 16-player roster, with the six eliminated players to be placed in the reserve pool.
The Tornadoes are in the same bracket as Kwai Tsing of Hong Kong and Vietnam’s Army. They are set to meet Kwai Tsing on Sept. 3, Saturday, and Army on Sept. 4, Sunday.
The other teams participating include Bangkok Glass of Thailand and a Japanese team, which could either be NEC or Hisamitsu Springs. Joining the fray are Bohai Bank of China, Taiwan Power of Taipei, Altay of Kazakhstan, Four-Twenty-Five of North Korea, Kwai Tsing, Jakarta Electric of Indonesia and a team from Malaysia.
Ramon “Tats” Suzara, the tournament’s director general, said the spikefest will be an exciting tournament, considering that many heavyweight teams are playing.
On the other hand, Philippine Superliga Chairman Philip Ella Juico said the tournament is one way of showing the world that the Philippines can keep up with its neighboring countries in terms of organizing events.
Santiago, a 6’5” middle blocker from National University, was awarded with the golden ticket by Suzara and Juico.