The national women’s volleyball team is set to leave for Thailand on Wednesday to compete in the ASEAN Grand Prix in Nakhon Ratchasima starting 9 September.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation executive Tonyboy Liao said the Creamline-backed Nationals will be leaving at 2 p.m. via a Thai Airways flight to compete in the prestigious four-nation tourney.
Aside from the Philippines, also seeing action are powerhouse Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The Philippines is coming off a successful campaign in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Cup for Women in which it came up with a sixth-place finish.
Liao said he hopes that the Nationals will be able to sustain their momentum and display the spunk and never-say-die attitude they displayed during the AVC Cup that the country hosted last month.
“We will be playing against national teams there. Let’s give them a good fight. It’s hard to predict how this will go,” Liao said.
“The teams there are strong so you can’t tell what their chances will be.”
The Nationals beefed up their roster with the inclusion of Risa Sato, who missed the AVC Cup after being placed in health protocols.
Skipper Alyssa Valdez, however, will remain at the sidelines as she is still recovering from dengue.
In a previous report, Michele Gumabao said she is excited to play against Indonesia, which has been their biggest foe in the Southeast Asian Games.
“We’re excited to go up against Indonesia since we didn’t play them in the AVC Cup but we’re also excited to play against Vietnam and Thailand again,” Gumabao said.
“We played our hearts out against them and we know we can make adjustments and we really want to face them again because they’re the teams that will teach you the most because the Asian style of play is different.”
