ASIAN Volleyball Confederation and Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara has nothing but glowing words for the Alas Pilipinas national women’s volleyball team after its historic silver medal campaign in the AVC Women’s Nations Cup last week in Vietnam.
Asia’s volleyball chief praised the country’s laurel in the continental meet, the Philippines’ highest medal in an AVC-sanctioned joust in 64 years.
Suzara is hoping the team will gain more FIVB world ranking points and get the job done in the Southeast Asian Games later this year in Thailand.
Led by the likes of skipper Jia De Guzman, Angel Canino, Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Dell Palomata, Fifi Sharma, Dawn Catindig, and Eya Laure, the Filipina spikers surpassed a bronze medal finish last year in the contest formerly known as the AVC Challenge Cup.
“Of course, I’d like to congratulate our Alas women for winning the silver from bronze last year. Of course, the main target for us is the SEA Games this year, although not really on the calendar of the FIVB,” Suzara said in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum last Tuesday.
“As you are all aware that the SEA Games has no points for the World ranking, that’s why the AVC Nations Cup is so important for us… because (we can) get points for our world ranking,” the hardworking local volley body top honcho added.
The Jorge Souza de Brito-mentored Alas women rose to world No. 46 after the 12-team competition and are currently at eighth spot in the Asian rankings.
“Every time we win in the AVC, we get points. That’s why we’re already No. 46 in the world. If you lose, you also lose some points. But again, the tremendous improvement of our women’s team, and our men’s team also, has really changed the landscape of Philippine volleyball,” Suzara said.
“Now, we’re No. 46 (for women) and No. 57 for the men’s. So it’s a big step. This is our target, to also play in FIVB world-class competitions. We’re working hard and every day, we, the team, should improve from the learning experience from every competition.”
Suzara also thanked the PVL and several universities for their continuous support in allowing their players to play for the national team.
He reiterated that the players should focus on flying the flag as Alas is set to compete in several international competitions like the VTV Cup later this month, SEA V-League in August and SEA Games in December.
“What we are doing is we send the requests directly to these universities, not the UAAP. You have to understand that. . . I told the players that once you are turned over to the national team, you focus on the national team program,” he said.
“When you’re in the national team, parang kapag kumuha ka ng master’s degree, doon ka naka-focus lang. This is very important for them to focus because the national team is at a higher level, so focus on what coach Jorge’s program is.”
