Roger Gorayeb. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The core of the Southeast Asian Games volleyball squad is likely to represent the Philippines in the country’s first ever stint in the 2015 VTV Invitational Women’s Volleyball Cup.
LVPI secretary general Ricky Palou said on Tuesday that most of the members of the team which saw action in Singapore will be retained as the association seeks continuity of the national team program.
READ: PH volleybelles joining Vietnam VTV tourney
“What we plan is to have a pool of 18 players, where we will choose 12 players who will be participating in the international competitions. Probably the SEA Games squad will comprise majority of that team,” he said.
Philippines failed to crack the semis of the SEA Games volleyball tournament and ended with a 1-2 record.
READ: Vietnam eliminates PH in SEA Games women’s volleyball
Three players, though, are expected not to see action for PH squad namely Jia Morado, who is out for two to three months due to a knee injury, Rachel Ann Daquis, who is set to leave for Canada, and Denden Lazaro, who will be entering medical school.
Palou also said that the same coaching staff led by Roger Gorayeb and Tai Bundit will still be calling the shots for the national team in the VTV Cup.
The Thai coach of the Lady Eagles was named the head coach of the volleybelles according to an earlier report, but Palou in the presser cleared that Gorayeb will handled the team again.
READ: Gorayeb asks for unity as he leads team in SEA Games
“The coach will still be Roger,” Palou said.
“We’re retaining the same staff we had in the SEA Games. We want to keep Roger and Tai together so there will be continuity. We feel that the competition is very close to the SEA Games so there’s continuity in our training program.”
To be held on July 25 to August 1 in Bac Lieu, Vietnam, the country’s top volleybelles will go up against hosts Vietnam, Chinese squads Nanjing University, Liaoning, the Thailand U-23 team, and North Korea. CFC