RETURNING National University setter Rica Diolan and De La Salle's possible one-and-done player, Lourdes Clemente, are likely cleared to play in UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament, which fires off next month.
UE athletic director Rod Roque, who is part of the UAAP board and league’s eligibility committee, bared that the deadline of submission for eligibility of the second semester sports is on January 28 and the screening is set on February 5 before the board meeting for approval on Feb. 11.
Roque believes that Diolan and Clemente are qualified barring some technicalities in the eligibility.
Roque said that Diolan, who made her debut in Season 78 with the Lady Bulldogs, completed the one-year residency requirement after deciding to come back to NU last year following her transfer to UE for one semester.
“Nag-one year na siya sa NU, nag-residency na siya. Nag-one year na siya sa NU so qualified na siyang maglaro ulit,” he said.
For her part, Lourdes Clemente, a former University of Perpetual Help player who finished her four-year course, will be approved if and when she applies for eligibility for Season 81 while taking up a masteral degree as a member of the De La Salle Lady Spikers, Roque said.
“Kapag masteral tapos galing ka sa ibang school walang residency, ready to play,” Roque said. “Pero kung galing ka sa ibang UAAP school, magma-masteral ka sa another UAAP school then one year residency. Pero si Lourdes wala siya, qualified siya.”
De La Salle head coach Ramil de Jesus has yet to give an update about the status of Clemente at the school and the Lady Spikers since he expressed his interest of recruiting the 6-foot-2 middle blocker last year.
But the former Best Middle Blocker of the NCAA was already seen in photos of the Lady Spikers’ training camp in Baguio and practices in their campus for their ‘four-peat’ bid this UAAP Season 81.
Roque cited age, grades, and enrollment of the student-athlete as the other factors of eligibility.
“As long as qualified sila by age, sa college it’s twenty five and under. As long as they’re at age naman, they can,” he said. “Kung nag-stop sila ng one year basta napasa nila yung current semester nila pwede naman. Qualified naman sila.”
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