SPEED will mean a lot.
And this is expected to bring out the best in the Philippine national women’s volleyball team.
National head coach Francis Vicente said this as the nationals start training with spikers from elite clubs and universities in Japan this week.
“Ang kailangan nilang makuha sa training ay iyung bilis ng bawa’t isa. Ito ang nakikita kong ideal para sa team,” said Vicente.
The trip was made possible with the help of Asian Volleyball Confederation council members Ramon “Tats” Suzara, who made arrangements to make the trip happen.
“It’s a very tight schedule for them. They will only have two days off,” said Suzara.
Vicente and Suzara talked about the training stint during a sendoff last Friday at the Arellano gymnasium at Taft campus in Manila.
The nationals will be in Kobe and Osaka from July 18 to Aug. 2.
This will be part of their preparation for the 19th AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship set from Aug. 9 to 17 in Binan City and Muntinlupa City, and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur from Aug. 19 to 31.
In their first week in Osaka, the lady spikers will train with the first division squad Okayama Seagulls in the morning before they have tuneup games in the afternoon.
The following in Kobe, they will have trainings and tuneup matches with players from Ryokoku University, the Osaka Superiors, Shinwa University and Osaka University.
The nationals will be skippered by Mika Reyes and Abigail Marano, and will be composed of Denise Lazaro, Kim Fajardo, Rhea Dimaculangan and Maika Ortiz.
There’s Genevieve Casugod, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Jaja Santiago, Alyssa Valdez, Frances Molina, Dawn Macandili and newcomer Kim Dy.
Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI) acting president Peter Cayco, volleyball official Joey Romasanta, Vicente and Rebisco executive Lulu de la Pena graced the occasion with their presence.
Bannered by Olympic Most Valuable Player Zhu Ting, China leads the strong cast of competitors in the Asian spikefest.
China is joining with heavyweights Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
The Philippines is in a favorable draw in Pool A as it is with Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.
Pool B has China, Japan and Australia while Pool C has South Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The Thais lead Pool D together with Chinese Taipei, Iran and Maldives.