HISTORY has been made as 23 of the 47 hopefuls found new homes in the pros in the inaugural 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) draft.
And it was UAAP schools La Salle and Adamson that dominated the draft board as all five Lady Spikers and all seven Lady Falcons were selected
The Taft towers swept the top four with Thea Gagate joining ZUS Coffee as the league’s first-ever top pick, Leila Cruz following suit at Capital1, Julia Coronel going to Galeries Tower and a surprise selection which saw Maicah Larroza join Farm Fresh at fourth.
After University of the Philippines leading scorer Steph Bustrillo landed at sixth with Akari, five of the next six picks were all Adamson standouts in Lucille Almonte (Nxled), Ishie Lalongisip (Cignal), Angge Alcantara (PLDT), Karen Verdeflor (Chery Tiggo) and AA Adolfo (Petro Gazz).
Arellano middle blocker Lorraine Pecaña and Fil-Canadian champion libero-setter Aleiah Torres were the lone additions to reigning finalists and sister teams Choco Mucho and Creamline, respectively.
Gagate wasn’t the lone new Thunderbelle as it also drafted Adamson middle blocker Sharya Ancheta in the second round and Nikka Yandoc in the third round – allowing the Lady Falcons to go seven-for-seven in the draft.
They rounded up their selections with University of the East’s Jenina Zeta.
Capital1 added even more starpower with Ateneo captain Roma Mae Doromal and La Salle’s defensive specialist Jenya Torres.
UAAP and NCAA talents emerged as late picks with University of Sto. Tomas’ Pierre Abellana joining Farm Fresh, Perpetual’s Razel Aldea boosting Nxled and Arellano’s Donnalyn Paralejas completing the reigning Reinforced Conference champion Petro Gazz’ two-player haul.
After acquiring UP’s Jewel Encarnacion and Arellano’s Dodee Batindaan, Galeries Tower made a historic final pick of the draft by selecting University of San Jose-Recoletos opposite hitter Danivah Aying — the only non-UAAP and non-NCAA talent to land a roster spot.
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