The Philippine national women’s volleyball pool will return to Lipa City in Batangas in preparation for the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championships from 1 to 7 October at Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) national team commission chairperson Tonyboy Liao on Tuesday said the team decided to return to Batangas after Pampanga became unavailable due to its hosting of the resumption of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
Liao, however, admitted that they have yet to identify their exact training venue in Batangas.
Members of the women’s pool had already taken their RT-PCR test and the result will be available on 1 September. Then, they will formally open their camp the following day up to their departure for Thailand on 27 September.
“They were supposed to train in Pampanga, but it was moved again to Lipa, Batangas because Pampanga will be the venue for the PBA,” Liao, a longtime volleyball executive and commissioner of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) commissioner, said.
“They will use the venues there in Pampanga so we decided to go back to Batangas, which is good because it’s available to us.”
The federation had already plotted its plan for the prestigious interclub tournament with the pool being divided into two teams of 12 players.
A Daily Tribune source said the federation is looking at putting veterans like skipper Aby Maraño, Mylene Paat, Kianna Dy, MJ Philips, Majoy Baron and Dawn Macandili in Team A while rising stars like Eya Laure, Faith Nisperos, Alyssa Solomon, Mhicaela Belen, Ivy Lacsina, Kamille Cal and Jen Nierva will be in Team B.
But nothing is final at the moment as the federation is set to meet on 7 September to plot the team rosters before submitting them to the organizing body and the Asian Volleyball Confederation before the deadline on 10 September.
The PNVF will be facing a $5,000 penalty if it will fail to submit the lineup on time.
Liao said ranking PNVF officials will do an ocular inspection of the venue on Saturday.
“The officials will visit the venue on Saturday to see the venue,” Liao said.