Alas Pilipinas girls set for two U-18 tournaments

Alas Pilipinas girls team.–Photo from Akari Sports

MANILA, Philippines — After the men’s and women’s squads competed in the AVC Challenge Cup, Alas Pilipinas girls’ team takes its turn to fight for the country’s pride in two international under-18 tournaments this month.

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) on Tuesday unveiled the Alas U-18 roster, which will be handled by Japanese coach Taka Minowa.

National University-Nazareth School and University of Santo Tomas High School will banner the squad in the upcoming 22nd Princess Cup Southeast Asia U18 Championship from June 8-12 and in the AVC Asian U18 Championship from June 16 to 23 in Thailand.

READ: Alas Pilipinas wins AVC Challenge Cup bronze, beats Australia

Bubay Bellen, the sister of two-time UAAP MVP Bella, and Chasliey Pepito, the niece of back-to-back Best Libero Detdet, will protect Alas’ floor as the liberos of the squad.

Pepito will be joined by her teammates Kimberly Rubin, Jaila Adrao, Maile Salang, Aneeza Santos, Lianne Penuliar, and Avril Bron, while Bellen will be with her fellow Lady Bullpups Denesse Daylisan, Akeyla Bartolabac, and Harlyn Serneche.

Completing the roster are Samarah Gillian Marzan of La Salle-Zobel and Ashley Macalinao of Kings’ Montessori School.

READ: Alas Pilipinas men eliminated in AVC Challenge Cup

The Alas young guns played tune-up games against top PVL clubs like Cignal and Akari as part of their build-up.

It will be Minowa’s first Philippine national team stint, handling the grassroots program.

Minowa, the husband of former national team star Jaja Santiago, coached Nxled in the past two PVL conferences. He will call the shots for Akari, where he also works as a volleyball program director, starting next Reinforced Conference in July.

The PNVF recently launched Alas Pilipinas as the moniker of all its national squads with the women’s, led by Jia De Guzman and Angel Canino, winning a historic bronze in the Challenge Cup last week in Manila.

The men’s squad, led by Marck Espejo and Jau Umandal, missed the opportunity to advance to the Challenge Cup quarterfinals in Bahrain but will compete for ninth to 12th place classification.