The Philippine Superliga and Foton officially launched the Asian Volleyball Confederation Women’s Club Championships to be hosted in the country from September 3-11 at the Alonte Sports Center in Biñan, Laguna in a press conference at the Crimson Hotel, the official hotel of the tournament.
Top PSL officials including President Ramon Suzara and chairman Phillip Juico graced the event along with representatives from the Biñan local government, Foton, and Crimson Hotel.
“We are excited by the continuous number of world-class events that the country gets the opportunity to host,” said Juico.
“We are hoping that this AVC tournament will continue to improve our image as one the best sports hosts in Asia.”
Foton showcased its official logo, Foton Pilipinas. Team manager Alvin Lu expressed delight in being able to carry the country’s name along with their brand.
“Originally, we thought of just using our regular Foton Tornadoes name. But it’s very rare that we get a chance to represent the country so we decided to use Foton Pilipinas instead,” Lu declared.
Foton also unveiled the 20-woman pool that will be trimmed down before the tournament.
Foton brought back American import and 2015 PSL Grand Prix MVP Lindsay Stalzer along with Oregon native and former Cignal import Ariel Usher to serve as imports for the team. T
hey also bolstered the pool with local players from opposing clubs in RC Cola-Army’s Jovelyn Gonzaga, Rachel Daquis, and Tina Salak, F2 Logistics’ Aby Maraño, and Petron’s Jen Reyes. They will also have their current 14-woman roster to choose from bannered by Jaja Santiago, Rhea Dimaculangan, and Cherry Rondina.
Given the current makeup of the team and the competition for the first round of the tournament, Lu was confident the team can advance deep into the tournament.
“Of course, nothing is certain but I think we have a 70% chance to make it far in the tournament. I have a lot of confidence in the team,” he expressed.
Foton will need to earn at least one win in the Group stage where they are stacked with the Hong Kong National Team and Vietnam. They’ll take on clubs from Japan, Thailand, and China in the following round depending on the seeding.
