ALAS Pilipinas Women released a surprise 33-woman player wishlist for this year’s national team pool.
The list included Alas mainstays, PVL aces, UAAP rising stars and a few Fil-foreign players thrown in the mix.
READ: 'Wish list' of 33 players invited to Alas Pilipinas tryouts
Nearly twice as many players as the previous 19-woman pool, Alas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito's latest selection is an eclectic mix of youth and experience ahead of the country’s medal bid in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games this December.
While nothing is set in stone for this pool, here are a few names that were notably missing from the wishlist:
SISI RONDINA (Choco Mucho)
One of the pioneering Alas members scratched off the 33-player list is Sisi Rondina.
The former PVL MVP took flight for the national team in last year’s bronze-medal run in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women just weeks after leading Choco Mucho to a second PVL Finals appearance.
Her exclusion in this list might be a head-scratcher for now, but it is expected that Rondina won’t be stepping back from international play just yet.
ALYSSA VALDEZ (Creamline)
Two years since her last tour of duty for the flag, Philippine volleyball’s ‘Phenom’ was missing from a lengthy list of prospective national team members.
Just last month, Valdez expressed her desire to represent the country again to complete unfinished business in the international scene.
While she’ll get the chance to do so with Creamline in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League, her Alas hopes remain shelved at least for this year.
JEMA GALANZA (Creamline)
While she was part of the national team pool last year and even played in a limited capacity, Jema Galanza’s omission was a perplexing one.
The 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference might have been a tale of ups and downs for her thus far, but being the conference’s reigning second best outside spiker and Finals MVP can’t be overlooked.
At least for this edition of the Alas pool, her championship pedigree didn’t quite cut it unless Galanza herself turned a tryout invite down on her own volition.
DETDET PEPITO (UST)
Alas Women had just two liberos in its international run last year in captain Dawn Macandili-Catindig and Jen Nierva.
With more college aces considered in the new list, the exclusion of reigning two-time UAAP best libero and University of Santo Tomas captain Detdet Pepito is quite the head-scratcher.
Pepito’s league-leading floor defense in their last two campaigns led UST to a breakthrough finals appearance in Season 86, but wasn’t enough for now to be given a look at for the national team.
ANGGE POYOS (UST)
From one UST star to another, Angge Poyos also wasn’t given a shout for a national team spot.
The UAAP Season 86 Rookie of the Year and second-leading scorer continues to be the heart and soul of the young Golden Tigresses’ offense — this time, as a sophomore winger.
With the likes of fellow ace UAAP wingers Belen, Canino and Alinsug tapped to participate in the tryouts, Poyos was too big of an oversight in terms of adding youthful firepower to the national team.
BEA DE LEON (Creamline)
One of the PVL’s most in-form middle blockers, both on offense and defense, as of late is Bea de Leon.
When an oft-defensive player like her can top the scoresheets for a spiker-heavy Creamline team, one can consider a versatile 5-foot-11 ace like her as a luxury in terms of the height and scoring prowess she brings.
Not to mention, she has yet to lose a PVL conference as a Cool Smasher as her first three conferences in 2024 ended up being an unprecedented Grand Slam run.
MYLA PABLO (Petro Gazz)
Adding champion-caliber veteran experience to a relatively young Alas team through a resurgent Myla Pablo will remain a what-if for now.
Pablo’s red-hot form for semis-bound Petro Gazz has worked wonders along with Brooke Van Sickle. In fact, she fought her way back to the starting unit and emerged as the team’s second-leading scorer in prelims play with 160 points (14.55 per game).
While talent and numbers are important factors to consider, a player’s recent run of form should definitely be worth looking at — and Pablo has that nailed to a tee.
IVY LACSINA (Akari)
Mentored by Alas under-18 coach Taka Minowa in Akari, Ivy Lacsina has long been touted to be a future national team winger.
Hence, it came as a surprise not to see the Chargers ace in such a long list, considering how she manned her team’s resurgence from a shaky prelims start to a semis-bound campaign in a matter of months.
Numbers-wise, Lacsina even finished the preliminaries in the top five of the scoring department with 178 points (16.18 per game).
BERNADETH PONS (Creamline)
Crowned MVP in last year’s Reinforced Conference, Pons stood her ground among the household names in a stacked Creamline side to complete the Grand Slam.
At 28, her exceptional two-way game coming from her roots as a beach volleyball player worked wonders on the taraflex as she racked up a handful of triple-doubles in the absence of their Valdez-Galanza-Carlos trio in the last two conferences of the 2024 PVL season.
But like Rondina, expect Pons to still be a vital fixture for flag and country in oncoming international competitions.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Tin Ubaldo (S: FEU)
- Trisha Tubu (OH: Farm Fresh)
- Gel Cayuna (S: Cignal)
- Majoy Baron (MB: PLDT)
- Kath Arado (L: PLDT)
- AC Miner (OP/MB: Ateneo)
- Nina Ytang (MB: UP)
- Jonah Sabete (OH: Petro Gazz)
- Michele Gumabao (OP: Creamline)
- Cess Robles (OH: Chery Tiggo)
- Alyssa Eroa (L: Galeries Tower)
- Kyla Atienza (L: Creamline)
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