THE 16-woman national team training pool is set to toughen up next month in Brazil for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in May in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and neighboring areas.
The Nationals tantalizingly came close to a podium finish, winding up fourth in the 2019 edition of the biennial meet.
Mainstays Alyssa Valdez and Japan V.Legaue import Jaja Santiago spearhead the training squad along with Thailand league reinforcement Mylene Paat, Kat Arado, Dawn Macandili, Aby Maraño, Ria Meneses, and Ces Molina.
Completing the pool are Majoy Baron and first-timers Jema Galanza, Dell Palomata, Kat Tolentino, Deanna Wong, and Iris Tolenada, and high school standouts Jelai Gajero and Casiey Dongallo from California Academy of Antipolo.
The belles of coach Odjie Mamon and Brazilian consultant Edson Souza de Brito will leave on April 12.
Those who begged off from joining the pool are Fil-Am spiker Kalei Mau, Thailand league import Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Kim Dy, and setters Jia Morado-de Guzman and Jasmine Nabor.
With the 84th UAAP women’s volleyball tourney set to kick off in May, the likes of Ateneo’s Faith Nisperos, Eya Laure, Imee Hernandez and Bernadette Pepito of University of Santo Tomas, and National University’s Kamille Cal, Mhicaela Belen, Ivy Lacsina, Alyssa Solomon, and Jennifer Nierva were scrapped from the initial 20-woman list.
