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Power Pinays’ “Final 12” announced, opens vs. India in Asian Women’s club volley tilt in Thailand

The competition line-up of PLDT TVolution-Philippines has been officially submitted to the organizing committee of the 17th Princess Cup-Chang Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship on the eve of their opening preliminary match in Group A in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand.

After going through a rigorous two week intensive training stint with a phalanx of squads from the Thailand Volleyball League (TVL), a university selection and the Thai national team pool in Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, the Philippine contingent travelled about sixty kilometers west of the capital to the host city last April 15th.

After its third practice session at the Nakhom Pathom Gym (the main venue of the tournament), the necessary cuts were made.

Middle hitters Mic-Mic Laborte and Michelle Datuin were placed on the reserve pool by Head Coach Sammy Acaylar as the Power Pinays dive into action on the competition’s opening match at 12:00NN local time (1:00PM, Philippine time) against KSEB-India—touted as one of the less heralded participating teams in the competition.

Here are the “Final 12” members of the Power Pinays:

#1 Suzanne Roces – U

#2 Angeli Tabaquero – O

#3 Jheck Dionela – L

#4 Arriane Argarin – S

#5 Mary Jean Balse – M

#8 Jovelyn Gonzaga – U

#11 Misao Tanyama – S

#13 Rachel Anne Daquis – O

#14 Jaja Santiago – M

#15 Honey Royse Tubino – M

#16 Lizlee Ann Gata-Pantone – L

#18 Regla Bell-Mackenzie – O

“It’s a strong team,” AVC official Ramon “Tats” Suzara said upon learning of the final cut.

Grouped with India, VAS-Singapore, Chinese-Taipei (national team), Kazakhstan (national team under the banner of Zhetyssu) and defending champion China (represented by Bohai Bank Tianjin), the Philippines is said to be in a less harrowing group as opposed to Group A which has Iran, Japan, Vietnam and host nation Thailand. Turkmenistan withdrew from the tournament, leaving only four teams in Group A against six teams in Group B.

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Here is the Philippines’ preliminary round competition schedule:

April 17—PHI vs. IND, 1:30pm

April 18—PHI vs. CHN, 5pm*

April 19—PHI vs. TPE, 3pm*

April 20—PHI vs. KAZ, 1pm

April 21—PHI vs. SIN, 3pm*

(All Philippines standard time)

*According to the schedules released by the AVC, there is TV coverage for these matches

ANALYSIS:

With all due respect to the Power Pinoys that finished seventh in the recently concluded PLDT Home Fibr Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Pasay City, the Power Pinays—despite the low ceiling—have a better chance of making a splash in the distaff version of the tourney.

The team is stacked in every position, except perhaps the Middle Blocker’s slot where apart from Santiago (6’5”), no one is listed as past six feet tall; with Balse at 5’11” and Tubino at 5’10”. Bell-Mackenzie (allegedly 5’9” but upon closer inspection is closer to 6’2”) can add more height at the wing position—as she has been universally known to be an ace net defender in her days with the Cuban national squad--while Tanyama (5’9”) is also quite long for a setter.

Their advantages lie in the fact that Gata-Pantone and Dionela are probably two of the best iberos in the country and that Gonzaga and captain Daquis are also superb floor defenders.

Here’s the projected starting line-up:

S – Tanyama

O – Bell-Mackenzie

O – Daquis

U – Gonzaga

M – Santiago

M – Tubino

L – Gata-Pantone

Their back-ups are mostly the Filipina veterans who can give the starters a breather, but only if truly necessary.

Also, Acaylar has a track record of epic proportions.

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His University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) squads have strung together multiple NCAA crowns—three for the Lady Altas, four for the Altas (including a ridiculous 47 match winning streak, which is the second longest active in all of Philippine sports, allegedly). He’s also been able to steer Cignal HD to consecutive finals appearances in the Philippines Super Liga (PSL); the second one the more improbable feat.

He knows his system well and by now the players have imbibed it in their bones.

It also helps his cause that his two deputies—Rico de Guzman and Kung Fu Reyes—where at the helm of the team that beat them twice in the PSL. Reyes has also been credited for the significant role he has played in the development of today’s rising stars such as Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez and Den-Den Lazaro, La Salle’s Kim Fajardo, and the Santiago sisters of the National University (NU) as the Head Coach of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) high school and the 2009 Philippine youth team (starring Valdez, Lazaro, Fajardo, the elder Santiago and Bacolod wunderkind Patty Ordendain).

Despite having (Jaja) Santiago join the “immersion” late (she departed for Bangkok last April 11th), the players (via Direct Messaging on Twitter) have reported that she has adapted well to the system and is ready to start on (Maundy) Thursday.

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Daquis will be an excellent skipper (with all due respect to last year’s captain Tabaquero) and her presence will help energize the squad. Balse and Roces are the local voices of wisdom while Tanyama and Bell-Mackenzie are the international versions.

The PLDT Home TVolution Power Pinays can beat India on opening (pity there is no TV coverage assigned to their game on that day) and Singapore (on the last day of the prelims) handily—perhaps even in straight sets. If (when) they get this done, then they will be advancing to the quarterfinals as only two teams in Group B will be eliminated. Group A will just go through the motions and battle for ranking as the withdrawal of Turkmenistan leaves them with only four teams.

Here’s another swami moment: I believe the Power Pinays can pull off an upset against either Kazakhstan or Chinese-Taipei.

We all have to remember that this is a CLUB competition and that the other teams are also allowed to parade imports. I think that despite the age factor (Tanyama is 35 and Bell-Mackenzie is 43) the Philippines has an outstanding pair of reinforcements that suits the young team very well.

The Kazakhs (for the most part) and the Taiwanese are fielding in their respective national teams; using this tournament as preparation for the upcoming Asian Games in Inchon, Korea. They may not employ imports. This may be a golden opportunity for the Filipinas with their Japanese and Cuban friends.

I propose that the Power Pinays qualify for the quarterfinals as the third seed coming out of Group B (B3) and may book a date with Iran in the knockout stages. That’s not such a good proposition, but I believe this unit is capable of shocking those naysayers in a good way.

There have already been some tweets about where live streaming for the Philippines’ matches can be witnessed. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but if you guys stumble upon one that works, please let me know.

I know it’s Holy Week and all, but that hashtag #VolleyballNeverStops is more prevalent now this week. Let’s find a way to support the Power Pinays in their continuing quest to regain a foothold on the Asian realm and recapture its past glory for a whole new generation of very appreciative volleyball fanatics.

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After all, more than half of the players on this team is sort of what you guys suggested in a previous article of mine from last year, right? It’s now time to love these ladies unconditionally.

So who’s with me on believing they’ll get more than two wins in the prelims?

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com