WILL A Philippine volleyball selection bannered by former UST standouts get another chance?
After losing its last game against Indonesia in the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship Qualification Zonal Round Southeast Asia, the Shakey’s V-League Selection, the country’s official delegate to the tournament, was disbanded by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) last June 16.
The Filipino tossers ended the tournament with a dismal 1-2 win-loss record, the lone victory coming against Myanmar, 20-25, 25-14, 25-10, 25-17. They yielded first to eventual champion and host country Vietnam, 25-9, 25-11, 25-18, last June 14.
The Roger Gorayeb-mentored squad, which was composed of UAAP and NCAA players including former UST mainstays Rubie de Leon, Maika Ortiz, Alyja and Aleona Santiago, Alyssa Valdez and Rhea Dimaculangan, only lasted for more than two weeks.
Dimaculangan expressed disappointment regarding the decision, saying PSC should at least give the team a chance to compete in other international competitions.
“I hope they (PSC) give us chance to prove ourselves that we can also compete against other countries. You can’t win a game internationally if you lack exposure,” the former Lady Spikers’ team captain said.
The Bomberinas, piloted by another former UST player Angeli Tabaquero, was supposed to represent the country in the FIVB Southeast Asia qualifiers.
But days after absorbing a 25-21, 19-25, 24-26, 18-25 defeat at the hands of Philippine Airforce in the recently concluded Philippine National Games (PNG) due to lack of players, PSC decided to disband the V-League Selection squad.
PSC chairman Ricardo Garcia defended his decision, saying “there was never a national team unless it was formed by the National Sports Association.”
He added that if the Bomberinas were fit to compete internationally, “how come they lost locally?”
Tabaquero clarified that the Bomberinas, which was formed after a series of tryouts last February under national team coach Sammy Acaylar, was a program that was not yet dissolved.
Like Dimaculangan, she was dismayed about what happened with the Bomberinas’ supposed Vietnam stint, saying all their efforts were put to waste after just a single loss that came when they were undermanned.
It was not the first time that a volleyball team was disallowed to compete just weeks before an international tournament.
In 2011, the Philippine women’s volleyball team, led by former Far Eastern University star Rachel Daquis, was denied of a trip to the Southeast Asian Games due to lack of funds and following a winless performance in the 12th Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship.
