FILE–Alas Pilipinas star Angel Canino receiving her award as the AVC Challenge Cup’s Best Opposite Spiker. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines —After missing Alas Pilipinas’ Japan training camp, La Salle star Angel Canino will not see action in the SEA VLeague.
National team coach Jorge Souza De Brito has also ruled Canino out of the Alas line-up for the regional tournament in August.
“We’d like [to have her] but she’s training with DLSU,” said De Brito said in an earlier message regarding Canino’s absence in Osaka.
READ: Angel Canino skips Alas Pilipinas training camp in Japan
In a message to Inquirer Sports, Canino’s camp cited “duties and responsibilities to fulfill with the Lady Spikers” as the reason for the UAAP Rookie MVP’s absence in Alas Pilipinas’ two-week training camp and the SEA VLeague.
The Brazilian coach also said the national team’s deal with La Salle was until the FIVB Challenger Cup, where Canino shone.
Canino played a key role in Alas Pilipinas’ success in the past few months. She was named the Best Opposite of the AVC Challenge Cup in Manila last June when the Philippines made history with its first-ever bronze medal in any AVC tournament.
READ: De Brito says Alas has ‘enough time’ in bid for SEA Games podium
The national team will have mainstays Jia De Guzman, Sisi Rondina, Eya Laure Dawn Macandili-Catindig, Jema Galanza, Jen Nierva, Vanie Gandler, Fifi Sharma, Faith Nisperos, Dell Palomata, Cherry Nunag, Thea Gagate and Julia Coronel as well as National University players Arah Panique, Bella Belen, and Alyssa Solomon.
Alas Pilipinas added two Filipino-Americans, setter Tia Andaya and libero Hannah Stires, to the training pool from the PNVF tryouts in the United States.