THE second staging of the PVL Rookie Draft has seen a notable increase in the number of applicants from its inaugural edition last year.
With the final list of draft aspirants now out, the league will officially have 57 hopefuls available for the 12 teams to choose from on draft night.
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By just how much did this year’s pool grow and which schools will parade the highest number of aspirants?
Before the big night on June 8, SPIN.ph breaks down the final composition of the 2025 PVL Rookie Draft vis-à-vis its 2024 edition.
Initial and final draft pools
This year, 60 applicants threw their names in the mix for the 2025 draft — 10 more than the 50-strong preliminary pool in 2024.
And in both editions, the initial number was cut by three.
57 aspirants made the final cut this year, similar to how 47 hopefuls proceeded to the 2024 draft.
As per the PVL, the three players who were left off the final list of 2025 draft prospects failed to complete all documentary requirements before the June 4 deadline.
They were Arellano’s Nenita Padua, Fil-Canadian Mary Ann Rioflorido from Toronto Metropolitan University and University of the Cordilleras’ Ezriah Martinez.
Identical UAAP contingent
Out of the final 57 aspirants this year, 26 are products of UAAP schools. That’s nearly half of the final draft pool or 45.61 percent to be exact.
In a slightly smaller pool last year, 25 of the final 47 hopefuls (53.19 percent) were from the UAAP. 14 of them were drafted.
Both editions of the draft had Adamson as the most represented school, either in the UAAP or elsewhere.
Six former Lady Falcons in May Ann Nuique, Ayesha Juegos, Jules Lopena, Aliah Marce, Kylene Villegas and May Roque look to replicate the perfect sweep of all seven Adamson applicants who were drafted last year.
This year, all eight UAAP schools have at least one draft entrant, unlike last year in which all but Far Eastern University had a player in the mix.
In the 2025 draft pool were five National U players led by consensus top pick Bella Belen, four each from La Salle and FEU, two apiece from Ateneo and University of Santo Tomas, and one from University of the East, University of the Philippines and its Integrated School (UPIS).
Bigger NCAA delegation
Last year’s 14-strong NCAA contingent was led by Arellano with five players.
Four players from the Lady Chiefs quintet and a University of Perpetual Help ace ended up being drafted from the NCAA side of the pool.
They were No. 11 pick Choco Mucho’s Lorraine Pecaña (Arellano) in the first round, followed by Razel Aldea at No. 17 for Nxled (UPHSD), Donnalyn Paralejas at No. 18 for Petro Gazz (Arellano) and Dodee Batindaan at No. 21 for Galeries Tower (Arellano).
The 2025 draft pool has 17 NCAA players, with Arellano and Jose Rizal University showing the way with three representatives each.
Completing the NCAA’s 17-player delegation are two aspirants each from Letran, Lyceum, San Beda and Emilio Aguinaldo College, as well as a player apiece from Benilde, UPHSD and San Sebastian College-Recoletos.
No Mapua player entered the draft in either of the first two editions.
More foreign flair
Among the many breakthroughs of the inaugural draft was the inclusion of Fil-foreign players in the draft pool.
Two Fil-Canadian prospects in Aleiah Torres of Brock University and Nathali Ramacula of Red River College Polytechnic made it all the way to draft night.
Only libero Torres struck luck as Creamline drafted her 12th overall.
This year, a pair of recognizable Fil-American talents and a quartet of Fil-Canadian aspirants all made the cut for the 2025 draft.
Past and present Fil-American national team setters in Alohi Robins-Hardy and Tia Andaya both have their sights set on landing PVL roster spots to join an exclusive circle of standouts to have served for club and country.
Looking to follow the trail blazed by Torres and PLDT’s Fil-Canadian hotshot Savi Davison are Yveian Orpiano (Concordia University of Edmonton), Reinali Calisin (Lawrence Technological University), Clara Serrano (Olds College) and Divine Cortez (University of Saskatchewan).
Beyond the mainstream scene
Eight non-UAAP, non-NCAA and non-Fil-foreign players are part of the 2025 draft pool — two more than last year.
Leading this pack are Enderun College’s Shane Carmona, Erika Deloria and Zenneth Perolino who have all had their fair share of success in the college ranks away from the mainstream limelight.
Also in the running for PVL roster spots are Ivy Aquino from the Asian Institute of Maritime Studies, Gerlie Trilles from CIT Colleges of Paniqui Foundation; Eika Bucog from Lyceum-Batangas and 39-year-old Rose Joy Pinuela from Olivarez College.
Last year, it was the final pick in Danivah Aying from University of San Jose-Recoletos who closed out the ceremony with a fairytale ending of her own by becoming the first provincial talent to be drafted at 23rd overall by Galeries Tower.
Draft night numbers
A total of 23 players from the 47-strong pool were drafted last year or roughly 49 percent of all applicants.
Six outside hitters, five middle blockers and four opposite hitters, setters and liberos each were chosen by the 12 teams.
And as earlier stated, Adamson led the way with seven drafted players, followed by La Salle with five, Arellano with three and UP with two.
From the 24 undrafted players, five went on to be signed after draft night as free agents in Cathrine Almazan (Akari), Ysabela Bakabak (Akari), Mary Grace Vernaiz (Chery TIggo), Caroline Santos (Cignal) and Camille Belaro (Cignal).
Aying, meanwhile, was acquired by ZUS Coffee from Galeries Tower in a special draft for unsigned draftees as she became the only draftee not to be signed by the team that picked her.
In summary, here are the numbers comparing last year to this year's PVL Rookie Draft.
2025 PVL DRAFT |
2024 PVL DRAFT |
|
|
Final applicants |
57 |
47 |
|
Initial applicants |
60 |
50 |
|
UAAP |
26 |
25 |
|
NCAA |
17 |
14 |
|
Fil-foreign players |
6 |
2 |
|
Other |
8 |
6 |
|
Drafted |
- |
23 |
|
Undrafted |
- |
24 |
|
Draft rounds |
- |
4 |
|
Post-draft free agent signings |
- |
5 |
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