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Power Pinays “Final 14” bared, head to Thailand for training and AVC club tilt

Reinforced by a veteran Japanese setter and a three-time Olympic gold medallist, the Philippine women’s volleyball team under the banner of PLDT Home TVolution was officially named by the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) and now head to Bangkok for a two-week intensive training camp with the Thai national team before representing the country in the 2014 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Club Championship in Nakhompathom on April 17-24.

The fourteen intrepid volleybelles are once again nicknamed the Power Pinays.

The PVF, through its Chairman Philip Ella Juico, hosted a send-off dinner for the contingent at the posh Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City recently, and after a few simple good luck wishes by some of the guests present at the affair, commemorative photos were taken of the entire selection for the first and last time before having one last practice session in the country then depart for Thailand.

“The team will undergo a two-week training with the Thai national team,” AVC's Ramon “Tats” Suzara announced. “They will be going up against the Thai team bound for the World Championship and this should serve as their final preparation before the club championship.”

Head Coach Sammy Acaylar beamed with pride as the fourteen members of the squad were officially presented.

“This is a very strong team and I thank PLDT and the PVF for its continued support,” the multi-titled mentor said. “We will go all out to make our country proud.”

“I’m very happy with the composition of the team,” PVF Secretary General Rustico “Otie” Camangian disclosed. “All they need to have is discipline during the final stage of their training and they could be contenders.”

Juico had one message to the team: “Train hard, play hard and pray even harder.”

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The selection was formed through weeks of undergoing a rigorous process. The initial tryouts began on January 15th and from a pool of nearly sixty aspirants, the “Final 14” emerged and has that balanced mixture of seasoned campaigners and young blood that could spell the difference in the upcoming AVC tourney.

Here they are (jersey numbers may change during the actual competition):

#1 Suzanne Roces (5’9” Utility-Spiker—UE)

#2 Angeli Tabaquero (5’8” Open-Spiker—UST)

#3 Angelique Dionela (5’0” Libero—UPHSD)

#4 Arriane Argarin (5’6” Setter—UPHSD)

#5 Mary Jean Balse (5’11” Quicker—UST)

#6 Lizlee Ann Gata-Pantone (5’7” Libero—AdU)

#8 Jovelyn Gonzaga (5’8” Utility-Spiker—CPU, Iloilo)

#10 Michelle Datuin (5’10” Quicker—DLSU)

#11 Misao Tanyama (5’9” Setter—Japan)

#13 Rachel Anne Daquis-captain (5’9” Open-Spiker—FEU)

#14 Alyja Daphne Santiago (6’5” Quicker—NU)

#15 Honey Royse Tubino (5’11” Quicker/Open-Spiker—UPHSD)

#17 Michelle Laborte (5’10” Quicker—USLS, Bacolod)

#18 Regla Bell-Mackenzie (6’3” Open-Spiker/Utility-Spiker—Cuba)

Head Coach: Sammy Acaylar

Assitant Coaches: Rico de Guzman, Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes, Michael Cariño

This version of the Power Pinays is way more stacked than the squad that saw action in the AVC Women’s Championship in Nakhor Ratchasima last year.

Here are the projected starters:

Setter—Tanyama

Open-Spikers—Bell-Mackenzie, Daquis

Utility-Spiker—Gonzaga

Quickers—J. Santiago, Tubino

Libero—Gata-Pantone

This line-up will be trimmed to twelve players when they reach Nakhompathom in a couple of weeks and that’s what Acaylar and the rest of the coaching staff must figure out during the course of the Bangkok leg of the training.

Many aficionados are looking for superstars such as Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Alyssa Valdez, Din-Din Santiago and Jen Reyes and why they are not on the official roster.

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Firstly, the PVF can’t please everyone and secondly, there are logical reasons why the four abovementioned as well as other qualified volleybelles are not headed to Thailand.

The federation and the coaching staff required one hundred percent commitment to the program from the onset. Like in the men’s squad, popular names such as AJ Pareja, John Depante and Reyson Fuentes were not included on the team because in one way or another they could not give their full time commitment to the endeavor. There will still be other opportunities for them to service the country.

In the case of Maizo, she was originally picked to be included in the final list. She begged off recently due to pressing family concerns that would only allow her to be free for the squad a mere three days before the tournament, hence she was eliminated for this sortie. Valdez and the elder Santiago have committed to play for their respective alma maters in the ongoing Shakey’s V-League Season 11, while Reyes is committed to her new nine to five job.

Jaja Santiago was the last addition to the squad and had to have special consideration regarding her travel details so as not to abandon the Lady Bulldogs all of a sudden. She joins the Power Pinays on April 10 and will fly solo to Bangkok. I guess if the country’s tallest player makes a special request, the federation and the coaching staff will bend over backwards to make it happen—just so long as she joins the mission.

Other names like Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz and Janine Marciano have similar constraints while St. Benilde opener Jannine Navarro—who many considered to be the revelation of the national tryouts—begged off due medical concerns.

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“This is just the first tournament of the program,” Camangian stressed recently. “There will be many more chances for them to be part of the team. Everything will fall in place in due time, as long as the program is operating.”

Despite the absence of some key names on the squad, I believe this is a solid and legit national team.

On that note, the draw for the tournament was recently done and the Philippines finds itself in Group B with defending champion China, last year’s first runner-up Kazakhstan, Singapore, India and Chinese-Taipei. Six of the eleven participating nations have been drawn into Group B, with Group A consisting of Thailand (host nation), Japan (last year’s bronze medallists), Vietnam, Turkmenistan and Iran.

Take note that this is a CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP and while the Philippines (PLDT) is parading two imports, other countries have more than that—although tournament regulations will only allow a maximum of two foreign reinforcements on the floor at a time.

In Group B, China (Bohai Bank Tianjin) is the only team other than the Philippines to be represented by a club. Kazakhstan, India, Singaore and Chinese-Taipei is alleged to be sending their national teams—this is in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games in Inchon, Korea this September. Those national teams, however, will also be parading imports.

The PLDT Home Fibr website will be updating us during the tournament as it appears there may be no television feed that will available for the Philippines’ matches, but knowing our friends from the MVP Group, they are working feverishly to make that happen.

So let’s blow a kiss to the Power Pinays as these fourteen warriors get set to write a new chapter in the lush history of the sport.

It was almost 21 years ago when the last gold medal was won by the Philippines in international competition and almost nine years since its last podium finish. This could be the beginning of the slow climb back to that podium. This could trigger a new renaissance in Philippine volleyball. This could be big.

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Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu once quipped, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Let’s hope these Power Pinays hasten that process.

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