SISTER-TEAM transfers apparently remain unabated in the Premier Volleyball League.
On Sunday, news leaked out that Farm Fresh trio Kate Santiago, Joan Narit, and Chinnie Arroyo have jumped ship to Zus Coffee for the coming PVL season, which will start with the six-month-long All-Filipino Conference in November.
The former Foxies mainstays were seen with the rest of the Thunderbelles during the PVL Media Day activities exclusive to league broadcaster Cignal on Sunday.
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However, neither team has announced the transfer of the players as of posting time.
Business tycoon Frank Lao first stepped into the PVL scene in the 2023 PVL Invitational Conference with Farm Fresh before the entry of Strong Group Athletics a year later, now known as Zus Coffee after a midseason rebrand.
READ Gonzaga signs with ZUS Coffee in PVL comeback
The Thunderbelles’ busy offseason began with the acquisition of veteran spiker Jovelyn Gonzaga, who’ll be suiting up with their No. 1 overall draft pick Thea Gagate upon completing her Alas Pilipinas duties earlier this year.
SPIN.ph has reached out to the PVL for comment, but no official has responded at posting time.
In dire need of players
Each PVL team can fill its roster with at most 20 players per conference, reserves included.
The norm would be teams using all 20 spots or falling just a few players shy of the limit. This wasn't the case for the Thunderbelles in their first PVL conference since their rebrand.
Back in the 2024 Reinforced Conference, ZUS Coffee only had 15 players in its squad including foreign guest import Tamaru Asaka.
With Gagate unable to make her PVL debut yet as a national team member, Jerry Yee had to make do of a 14-player rotation, the least for any team in import-laden play.
The result? A winless conference with only three sets won in eight pool play games played.
Granted that the Farm Fresh troika's transfer is green-lit by the league, ZUS Coffee will now have an 18-woman roster including Gonzaga to be at par with the rest of the field in terms of squad composition.
All will be known on whether the aforementioned sister-team transaction moves forward and if the Thunderbelles will max out their 20-player limit when the season-opening All-Filipino Conference breaks ground in two weeks' time.
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