The Philippine national women’s volleyball team is all set for the AVC Asian Women’s Cup as the rest of the squad flew to Thailand on Friday.
Captain Aby Maraño, Cha Cruz-Behag, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Mika Reyes, Mylene Paat, Grethcel Soltones, Denden Lazaro, Maika Ortiz, Risa Sato, and Jasmine Nabor joined the rest of the teammates who are already in the country.
Alyssa Valdez, Jia Morado, Jema Galanza, and Melissa Gohing are already in Thailand for their training camp with PVL club Creamline.
The national team’s first opponent is Australia in Pool C on Sunday in Nakhon Ratchasima, almost three hours to the northeast of Bangkok.
Peter Cayco, the president of Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas Inc., said this year’s cup would be a good chance for the Philippine squad to continue improving their skills against the continent’s top teams.
“Very strong teams entered in this tournament, the top teams in Asia, almost the same cast as the Asian Games,” said Cayco. “This will be a good chance for the Philippine team to continue to hone their skills.”
The Philippines qualified for this tournament after finishing eighth in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship that was held in Laguna.
Apart from Australia, the other teams in Pool C are Kazakhstan and Iran.