FOUR former UST Tiger Spikers made it to the 18-man roster of the Philippine Men’s National Club Team that will compete in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championships on April 6 to 8 here in the Philippines.
Among the 50 hopefuls from different leagues such as UAAP, NCAA and Philippine Super Liga, UST Golden Tigresses assistant coach Christian Fernandez, Paul Doloiras, Jayson Ramos and JP Torres made the cut. The number of aspirants joining the national team named PLDT Power Pinoys was trimmed down to 30 and late, the final 18.
It will be headed by current PLDT myDSL head coach Francis Vicente, who was a former UST Athletic Moderator, Physical Education teacher, UST girls’ volleyball team coach and UST Golden Tigresses assistant coach.
“Sobrang nakakataba ng puso mapabilang sa team na ito especially dahil ‘yung iba sa mga kasabay namin sa try-outs ay teammates na namin ngayon and they really are elite volleyball players,” Fernandez said.
“Focus na namin ngayon is to play hard and to win for the Philippines.”
Also included in the team are actor Richard Gomez (Polytechnic University of the Philippines), Red Christensen and Geuel Asia (De La Salle University), Alnakran Abdilla and Raffy Mosuelo (Philippine Air Force), Rodolfo Labrador and Jessie Lopez (Far Eastern University), Ron Jay Galang (Adamson University), Rocky Honrade (College of St. Benilde), Ace Mandani (University of the East), Howard Mojica (Emilio Aguinaldo College), Marck Espejo (Ateneo De Manila University), Jeffrey Malabanan (Rizal Technological University) and UAAP Most Valuable Player Peter Den Mar Torres (National University).
The Power Pinoys are under Pool A with Iraq, Kuwait and Mongolia and will face other teams like Iran, Japan, Lebanon and Vietnam (Pool B), Qatar, Kazakhstan, Oman, Hong Kong and Turkmenistan (Pool C), Chinese Taipei, China, United Arab Emirates, India and Papua New Guinea (Pool D).
The champions of the tournament will qualify for the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Club World Championships in Betim, Brazil. Hedrix Ar-ar C. Caballe
