FILE–Khat Bell
MANILA, Philippines — Khat Bell makes her much-anticipated comeback in the Philippines as she bolsters Chery Tiggo’s roster in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference, which begins in July.
Chery Tiggo on Wednesday unveiled the American wing spiker as their import for the second conference after arriving in Manila hours ago from Canada.
Bell is returning after four years since she last played for the defunct Petron in the Philippine Superliga in 2020 before the season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m so excited to announce that I’m finally playing back in the Philippines for Chery Tiggo! I’ve been looking forward to come back to Manila for a very long time now, about four years since COVID, and I cannot be more excited and be happy to be back here for the fans, playing for Chery,” Bell said.
The 6-foot-2 spiker, who won two PSL Grand Prix titles with the Blaze Spikers in 2018 and 2019, is excited to team up with the players she played before with the likes Aby Maraño, Ara Galang, Mylene Paat, and Shaya Adorador and new faces Eya Laure and Jennifer Nierva, whose availability for this conference is up in the air due to their commitment to Alas Pilipinas.
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“For the fans that don’t know me, I bring a lot! I bring energy, I bring a little sass, and definitely I bring a winning mentality. I’m excited to be able to come back here and perform to the best of my ability, and hopefully help Chery Tiggo get to the top,” she said.
“Even though I’m new to Chery Tiggo, I’m fortunate enough to be playing[ with the likes of] Aby. There’s a few players as well that I’m excited to see, my old players from my old team. Coming to Chery Tiggo, I’m really excited just to be here.”
Determined to win a title in her first PVL stint and end Chery Tiggo’s three-year title drought, the 31-year-old Bell urged the Chery fans to support her and the Crossovers.
“To the fans, I am so ecstatic to be back playing here for you guys. Hope you guys come out, watch the games and cheer us on. Go, Chery Tiggo,” she said.
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Bell, who is armed with her experience in the Korean V-League and American pro team Vegas Thrill, is reunited with former Petron libero Buding Duremdes and ex-deputy coach Yani Fernandez, who is now part of Chery Tiggo coach KungFu Reyes’ coaching staff.
Chery Tiggo booked its second straight trip to the semifinals last All-Filipino Conference but they lost all three matches in the round and fell to Petro Gazz in the battle for third.
Two teams have already revealed their imports including PLDT, which welcomed returning Russian spiker Elena Samoilenko.
The top four of Reinforced will also qualify in the PVL Invitational Conference in September with two foreign guest teams.