NONE of the players from Alas Pilipinas Women’s 33rd Southeast Asian Games roster will be under consideration for the upcoming AVC Women's Cup, save for La Salle stars Angel Canino and Amie Provido.
The development marks a significant shift in direction for the program under new head coach Tai Bundit, with Alas Women expected to parade a much younger revamped roster for the June 6 to 14 tournament in Candon City.
READ: Alas coach Tai Bundit suffers ankle injury in scooter accident
Among the notable names who have declined invitations are longtime national team captain Jia de Guzman and Capital1 star rookie Bella Belen.
Their decisions further thin the veteran core of the national squad at a time when the program is already dealing with multiple withdrawals and availability concerns.
“They said no. At least, we invited them and they said they’re not available, they’re not willing to play,” Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Tony Boy Liao said.
Liao also laid out the reasons behind the absence of several key holdovers from the previous SEA Games core, with the national team pool hit by a mix of outright refusals, injuries, and personal decisions.
Among the notable absentees is reigning UAAP Season 88 MVP Shaina Nitura, who was initially interested in suiting up once more for Alas Women before eventually begging off to recover from an undisclosed injury.
Akari playmaker Mars Alba and libero Justine Jazareno were likewise left out after their mother team failed to respond to the PNVF following the federation’s extension of pool invitations.
Meanwhile, former National University star Alyssa Solomon has opted to sit out the rest of 2026 after concluding her stint in Japan’s SV.League, though sources said the high-scoring opposite hitter intends to return to national team duties by next year.
Bigger Alas Women pool soon
As for La Salle invitees Canino, Provido and Shevana Laput, Liao said that head coach Ramil de Jesus already gave an initial green light prior to the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball finals.
With a pool of 11 to 12 players which the PNVF requested not to disclose yet, Liao looks to have more names added to the mix at the soonest possible time.
“We will be adding [more players] kasi right now, we only have 11 to 12 players,” Liao said.
“Most of the university players he [Bundit] was inviting was there today, except for La Salle, which is good. We will look at maybe ‘yung PVL lineups, kung sino pwede kunin du’n, o ‘yung free agents na wala pang team.”
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