JUST before the first serve of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship final pitting Italy and Bulgaria, Alas Pilipinas women skipper Jia de Guzman and libero Dawn Catindig sat along with their teammates at the lower box section of the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay last Sunday night.
Then they—and the rest of the Filipina spikers erupted in sheer joy as FIVB President Fabio Azevedo and Brazilian volleyball legend Leila Barros uttered words that proved to be music to their ears — “The Philippines will host the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2029.”
For the 5-foot-7 de Guzman, the country’s hosting of the world volleyball showpiece—this time for women—will be the perfect opportunity for the belles of coach Jorge de Brito to show they also have what it takes.
“We’re so, so happy as in. We couldn’t believe it at first and that’s giving us a lot of time to prepare for it. With what the Alas men showed, with 16 months of preparation tapos ganyan kaganda ipinakita nila, there are so many possibilities,” De Guzman said. “We’re just happy that we’re getting the opportunity kasi it will be the women’s naman on this stage.
“I think sobrang ganda na this early pa lang, sinabihan na tayo na kung kailan mangyayari iyong World Championship. It’s set pretty early to give all of the teams to prepare. So, we can’t really bank on what we’ve been doing the past years na few weeks lang iyong preparation for the tournament,” she added.
The more time to prepare will also be better for Alas, according to de Guzman.
“Hopefully, all of the teams, all of the clubs, all of the universities can support us behind this because the world is already seeing how good the Philippines is,” de Guzman, who last suited up for Denso Airybees in Japan’s V.League 1, said.
“We have so much potential talaga and we wanna show up. I think we can only do this if we’re given the time to prepare.”
On the heels of their men counterparts’ historic stint in this year’s World Championship and the Philippines’ successful hosting that drew raves from all around, Catindig could not contain her excitement for the prestigious tilt four years from now.
“Sobrang excited kami siyempre going up against the top teams in the world so parang gusto lang namin malaman kung hanggang saan iyong maaabot namin in four years,” she said. “Siguro with the men’s performance, mas nai-inspire kami to do our best also na talagang maayos lahat.
“Hopefully, everyone is on the same page for the program and system na bini-build talaga ng Alas.”
