SEA Club opener: Philippine Army tests Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines—Unfazed by the stature of the opposition, Shakey’s V-League champion Philippine Army vowed to put up a strong performance in the Southeast Asian Club Women’s Volleyball Invitational starting Thursday at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Troopers, powered by national team mainstays Michelle and Mayette Carolino, Tina Salak, and Mary Jean Balse look to start their campaign on a positive note when they clash against Malaysia on opening day.

“We’ve prepared well for the tournament,” said Army coach Rico De Guzman. “Vietnam has a very strong team, but we will do our best to play well in front of the home crowd.”

Ateneo, champion of the V-League first conference last season, is also seeing action in the four-nation tournament, where Vietnam has been tabbed as favorite with two Russian spikers in its team.

At the PSA Forum Tuesday, organizers of the tournament, led by Sports Vision’s Moying Martelino, disclosed plans to integrate the Southeast Asian Club Invitational as part of the Shakey’s V-League calendar possibly starting next year.

“Right now, we’re trying to restructure the Shakey’s V-League and see how we can incorporate the SEA club championship in our year-long calendar,” Martelino said.

Martelino said the plan is to make the first conference an all-school event, with the second conference featuring corporate squads and schools.

Sports Vision president Ricky Palou, who was also present during the session presented by Smart, Pagcor, Outlast Battery, and Shakey’s, said the international tournament could be held at the end of the season.

“It’s good for our teams to be exposed in this kind of tournament,” V-League commissioner Tonyboy Liao said.