A huge wave of collegiate stars will be taking their careers to the next level when they compete in the 2016 Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference starting June 18.
Mika Reyes, Cyd Demecillo, Kim Fajardo and Kim Dy, stalwarts of reigning UAAP champion De La Salle University, will banner the bumper crop of talents who will be campaigning in the country’s most prestigious league this year.
Open spiker Ara Galang is also expected to join her La Salle teammates, but she has yet to decide whether to go through the draft or just wiggle her way as a direct hire of F2 Logistics, which will be bannered by the Lady Spikers together with veterans Cha Cruz, Stephanie Mercado and Aby Marano.
Another former Lady Spiker in Carol Cerveza will also see action. She, however, signed up with Grand Prix champion Foton together with University of Santo Tomas stars EJ Laure and Cherry Rondina.
“These La Salle player will not go through the draft because they already played as direct hires of Meralco in the Grand Prix last year,” explained PSL president Ramon “Tats” Suzara. “Same goes for Laure and Rondina who will enter the league as direct hires of Foton.”
With that, former NCAA Most Valuable Player (MVP) CJ Rosario will be expected to hog the limelight when the league stages its 3rd Annual Rookie Draft on May 27 at the third floor lobby of SM Aura in Taguig City.
Former Arellano Queen Chief CJ Rosario is being pegged as the top pick for this year’s class
After making heads turn for Petron, the 6-foot-1 middle blocker looms as the top overall pick while fellow former Arellano stars Danna Henson and Angelica Legacion are also tipped to get prominent draft positions.
Also expected to be taken in the first round of the three-round affair are Davao standout Mary Grace Berte and former National University playmaker Jocelyn Soliven as well as Renelyn Raterta, Sarina Bulan, Christine Suyao, Marlyn Llagoso, Jerra Mae Pacinio, Gen Casugod, Jonafer San Pedro, Kristine Dave, Loraine Palomar, Eloisa Medina, Sheryl Laborte, Lourdes Patilano, and Suzette Salas.
Three-time champion RC Cola-Army will be the first to get its hands on the draft pool followed by Generika, New San Jose Builders, Standard Insurance, F2 Logistics, Cignal, Petron, and Foton.
The draft order, however, is still subject to change as the league will have a three-day trading period starting 12 noon of May 24 until the draft proper on May 27.
Prior to that, coaches will get a chance to see the rookie hopefuls in action as the league stages a pre-draft camp this Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
The potential rookies will also get a chance to test their skills in a friendly match against the PSL All-Star team following the pre-draft camp.
“We will never get tired of opening our doors for these young players,” Suzara said. “We are looking forward to grow with the league and have them blossom into the volleyball stars of the future.”
