Premier Volleyball League (PVL) president Ricky Palou confirmed that the league is currently in talks with Chery Tiggo management regarding the status of Eya Laure and Jennifer Nierva for Alas Pilipinas.
Laure and Nierva both played key roles in the national team’s historic bronze finish in the AVC Challenge Cup.
However, they missed Alas Pilipinas’ recent campaign in the 2024 FIVB Challenger Cup to focus on the Crossovers’ build-up for the Reinforced Conference.
According to Palou, PVL teams are mandated by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) to lend their players during the national team window.
He also clarified that teams choosing not to loan their players to the national team will not face sanctions from the PVL, contrary to recent online speculation.
However, Palou revealed that the league has an agreement with the federation stipulating that players who bypass national team duties will be ineligible to participate in the Reinforced Conference.
“Well, what happens is the national team coaches chooses the players or the pool, right? And it’s mandated by the PNVF that if they’re chosen for the pool, they have to serve for the national team. ‘Yun lang naman,” said Palou after the inaugural PVL Rookie Draft on Monday at the Novotel.
“Now, if the team chooses not to allow their players to play, on our part, we have an agreement with the PNVF that they will not also be allowed to play in the Reinforced Conference, ‘yun lang naman. But I’m sure they will allow naman.”
Despite professional volleyball being on hiatus worldwide due to the national team window, the PVL and the PNVF have managed to reach a compromise regarding a mid-year tournament.
This decision comes at the request of team owners who claim they cannot sustain paying their players for five months without competitive play.
As part of the agreement, PVL teams are required to contribute two players to the national team pool.
Palou, however, stressed that nothing is set in stone until the final lineup of the teams has been submitted on Wednesday.
He remains hopeful that Laure and Nierva can join Alas, who are scheduled to fly to Japan for a training camp from July 14 to 25, in preparation for the SEA V-League next month.
The first leg of the SEA V-League will run from August 2 to 4 in Vietnam, while the second leg will be held from August 9 to 11 in Thailand.
“Well, we’re still talking to the management of Chery Tiggo. We’re hoping naman na they will allow the two to remain with the national team. Sayang din naman eh. We’re still communicating with them, nothing definite yet,” said Palou.
He added, “Mandated si Chery Tiggo to lend their two players to the national team. We’re still talking. Right now, they want to give the players but we’re still talking to explain to them what are the agreements we came up with PNVF.
“In fact, all the other teams said yes. Si Chery Tiggo lang yung naiiba, I don’t think they really understood everything so we’re trying to explain to them what happened.”
This development also means that players like Sisi Rondina and Chery Nunag (Choco Mucho), Vanie Gandler and Dawn Macandili-Catindig (Cignal), Fifi Sharma and Faith Nisperos (Akari), Dell Palomata (PLDT), and Jema Galanza (Creamline) will miss a significant portion of their respective teams’ campaign in the import-laced conference.
Top overall draft pick Thea Gagate of ZUS Coffee and third overall selection Julia Coronel of Galeries Tower will likewise be absent for a considerable part of the tournament.
Palou mentioned that the PNVF will release the players back to their mother clubs on August 11, meaning the earliest they can play is during the second round of the Reinforced Conference.
The Invitational Conference will take place a week after the Reinforced Finals with two guest teams expected to join the top four teams of the previous conference.
“For the national team, kapag kinuha ng coaching staff ang players, kailangan sila sumama doon sa pool ng national team until they are released by the PNVF,” he said.
“This time, sabi ng PNVF by August 11 all the players will be released to the teams.”
