Alas Pilipinas opens SEA V Cup campaign in Hanoi
Key Takeaways
- •Alas Pilipinas women arrived in Hanoi to compete in the first leg of the SEA V Cup.
- •The team will play Vietnam on Friday, Thailand on Saturday, and Indonesia on Sunday in a single round-robin format.
- •Japanese coach Taka Minowa leads a roster made up mostly of players loaned from the Premier Volleyball League, along with several non-PVL selections.
- •The SEA V Cup is being used as preparation for the Asian Games in Aichi, Japan, where Alas is in Pool B with China and Kazakhstan.
- •Leg 2 of the SEA V Cup is scheduled for Aug. 7 to 9 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
THE road to Asian Games glory began when the Alas Pilipinas women’s pool was announced barely a month ago.
After weeks of training together, the Nationals are set to show how much they have improved, with the SEA V Cup offering an early test against the region’s established powers before the squad moves on to bigger international assignments.
The Filipinas left on Wednesday for Hanoi, Vietnam, to compete in the first of the two-leg SEA V Cup, where they will immediately face host nation Vietnam on Friday at the Dong Anh Gymnasium.
The team will be coached by Japanese Taka Minowa, husband of Jaja Santiago, and will be led by a lineup made up mostly of players loaned by the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), including Capital1’s Bella Belen, Vanie Gandler and Erika Santos.
Also representing Alas from the PVL are ZUS Coffee’s Thea Gagate, Choco Mucho’s Eya Laure and Dawn Catindig, PLDT’s Dell Palomata, Akari’s Mars Alba, Justine Jazareno and Fifi Sharma, Galeries Tower’s Lams Lamina and Creamline’s Jia de Guzman.
Selected from outside the PVL were Niña Ytang, Alyssa Solomon, Arah Panique, Shaira Jardio, Celine Marsh, Vange Alinsug, Angel Canino and Amie Provido.
Alas is hoping to produce a surprise in the quadrennial event set this September in Aichi, Japan, where it was drawn in Pool B with defending champion China and taller Kazakhstan.
Vietnam will be a tough opening opponent, having ended Thailand’s eight-year title run by winning Leg 2 last year in Ninh Binh, Vietnam.
The Nationals will then face Thailand on Saturday in what will be their first taste of world-class volleyball in the tournament. Thailand have been promoted to the prestigious Volleyball Nations League as the first team from Southeast Asia to do so.
Alas will close its campaign against Indonesia on Sunday.
The champion will be determined after the single round-robin format.
Leg 2 is scheduled for Aug. 7 to 9 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Across nine legs of the annual meet, Alas has finished third six times and fourth and last three times. — Joey Villar