JIA De Guzman will return to the Philippine women’s national volleyball team for the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on May 22 to 29 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The eight-time Premier Volleyball League (PVL) best setter, who last suited up for the fourth-place nationals in last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia, will have roughly a week of preparations before her first national team duties of the year.
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“Yes, I’m going to play in the upcoming AVC Challenge Cup. I know (we’ll have) very little preparations but we’re going to give it our best despite that,” said de Guzman.
“All the time naman, ready to step up for the flag kami so excited ako to play for the Philippines again,” she added.
Over in the pros, De Guzman last saw action for the Cool Smashers in the 2023 PVL Invitational Conference in which the seven-time champions fell short in the knockout championship match to foreign guest team Kurashiki Ablaze.
She went on to pursue her first-ever overseas stint in the Japan V.League for Denso Airybees in which De Guzman was part of the club's top five finish in the regular season.
Her breakthrough run in Japan ended in the best possible way with a gold-medal finish in the 2023-24 Japan V.Cup, a post-season pocket tournament of the country's top-flight volleyball league.
As Creamline inches closer to an eighth PVL championship, De Guzman has full faith that the Cool Smashers are more than capable of upholding its seven-year run of unrivaled success and longstanding winning culture that no other team has replicated.
"'Yung Creamline naman every season, they work extra hard kasi all of the teams are getting better every time. Proud lang talaga ako sa kanila and I'm just really happy that I'm here to experience Game Two of the Finals," said De Guzman.
"Everyone is really embracing lahat ng tinuturo ni Coach Sherwin (Meneses) and everyone knows what their role is. Everyone is ready to step up, so if you'll notice with Creamline, kahit papalit-palit ng players, everyone is ready to deliver at any point.
"'Yun 'yung in-explain sa kanila ni Coach Sherwin and the coaching staff na they're just ready to help each other and play towards one goal," she added.
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