FOLLOWING her silver medal stint in the Japan V.League, Jaja Santiago reached another career milestone with her first-ever seniors call-up for the Japanese women’s national team.
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The Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) confirmed Santiago’s inclusion in the training pool of the world’s ninth-ranked women’s volleyball side on Friday afternoon.
“We are pleased to announce that two trainees, Jaja Santiago (JT Marvelous) and Melissa Valdes (PFU Blue Cats), will participate in the training camp of the Japan Women's National Volleyball Team,” JVA said in a media statement.
In a repost on X/Twitter, Santiago’s Japanese husband and Nxled Chameleons head coach Taka Minowa noted the former Premier Volleyball League (PVL) MVP has yet to be naturalized by Japan but is nonetheless proud of such a ‘big step’ in her overseas career.
“She'll (Jaja Santiago) join the Japan national team training camp. She hasn’t [received her] naturalization yet but this opportunity [is a] really big step for her dream. Welcome to Japan national team,” said Minowa.
The news of Santiago’s national team call-up broke the day after the PVL confirmed her eligibility to return to her mother club Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the ongoing 2024 All-Filipino Conference, should she decide to do so.
The Crossovers, however, have yet to comment on her possible PVL return as of posting.
Santiago underlined her national team credentials after racking up the best spiker, best blocker, and ‘Fighting Spirit’ nods on top of her All-Tournament Team selection in JT Marvelous’ one-loss campaign — one they were dealt in the knockout championship game against the NEC Red Rockets.
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