Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It looks like the drama surrounding the formation of the men’s and women’s volleyball teams did not end with the announcement of the national pools for both squads.
Here’s a plot twist: The Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. offered its apology to Ateneo Thursday for failing to hand over formal invitations to the school’s standouts for the last phase of tryouts.
And to correct the oversight, LVPI acting president Pete Cayco said they would schedule a special tryouts for four of Ateneo’s players—Mark Espejo, Jia Morado, Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino—just so they get “to display their talent and fight for slots in the national pool.
The coaching staff led by Francis Vicente had actually named middle blocker Madayag and outside spiker Tolentino part of the 25-member women’s national pool. But the exclusion of talented setter Morado and MVP Espejo drew the fans’ ire.
Morado’s exclusion became all the more controversial with the inclusion of University of the East setter Roselle Baliton.
The 6-foot-1 Baliton, picked because of her height, bared that she had been receiving hateful messages online. She has since deactivated her social media accounts.
Morado said everyone in the pool deserved their slots but that she would be willing to play for the national team if given the chance.
“Of course anyone would want to represent the country and help the country,” Morado said late Wednesday.
Ateneo officials said they didn’t receive any letter for the March 12 tryouts for the collegiate players although they knew about it through the UAAP.
“The LVPI is humbly taking responsibility on the failure to invite four Ateneo stars. It was clerical and administrative error on our part and all along we were under the impression that these young players were invited through the proper channel,” said Cayco in a statement.
The LVPI would announce soon the schedule of the special tryout although it may take some time because of the ongoing UAAP.
It wasn’t clear, however, what will happen to the newly formed national pools should any of the Ateneo stars make the grade.