JIA de Guzman is back with Alas Pilipinas ahead of a busy 2025 calendar en route to the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games this December.
While the captain’s back to serve the country, the national team might just have to go back to zero.
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De Guzman admitted how Year 2 of Alas will bring in an added layer of difficulty in light of the uncertainty that has since clouded the national team player pool.
A huge chunk of the 18 total players who represented Alas Women last year might not see action yet due to scheduling conflicts and player-lending concerns from some teams in both college ranks and the pros.
Hence, a 33-player wishlist was formed to fill in the gaps and bring in fresh talent to the national team.
Coming off a treble of bronze-medal wins in 2024, the pressure to deliver again cannot be denied as the nationals parade a relatively new-look front in the international stage starting next month.
“There's some pressure this year kasi we got bronze medals last year, pero we're starting from zero again kasi naghiwa-hiwalay kami,” de Guzman said.
“We need more time to prepare. Right now, our first tournament is coming up. It’s in June 7, the AVC [Nations] Cup. Ngayon , we're also expecting players from the UAAP, so hindi namin alam kung kailan kami makukumpleto.”
More new aces for Alas
There’s been a few new and returning faces that have trained with Alas over the last few weeks.
To name a few, they include Shaina Nitura, Dawn Macandili-Catindig, Eya Laure, Maddie Madayag, Vanie Gandler, Dell Palomata, Thea Gagate, Julia Coronel and Mars Alba.
That’s not even half of the invited players to vie for national team spots.
But for Kapitana Jia, progress is progress. And she’s more than up for the prospect of rebuilding with new and improved pieces for an even stronger showing this year.
Take note, the likes of multi-awarded UAAP stars in Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Lams Lamina, Angel Canino, Shevana Laput and Amie Provido are all expected to participate in national team activities in the coming months.
And de Guzman had the best seats in the house along with 18,514 fans to watch them duke it out in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball finals between NU and La Salle.
“I’m always excited to play with the ‘next generation’ kasi big names, big talents tsaka grabe 'yung pag-evolve nu’ng volleyball,” de Guzman said.
“Even if you know I've been playing volleyball for a while, I played in Japan also, there's still so much to learn, even from the young blood. Seeing them play now, grabe like ang layo from I was in college. I'm sure I can still learn a lot from them also.
“Right now, we're 12, 13 na nagte-train together and hopefully madagdagan. We're reminding all the girls na take it day by day. ‘Yung pag-training namin, just focus on coach [Jorge de Brito]’s system talaga. Hopefully we get more wins and medals sana this year.
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