After the 14-woman lineup for the Philippine Women’s National Volleyball Team for the 2018 Asian Games was announced Thursday evening, 10 players attended their first training as a team at the Arellano University Gym, Friday afternoon.
F2 Logistics Cargo Movers’ Aby Maraño, Kim Fajardo, Dawn Macandili, Kianna Dy, Cha Cruz-Behag, and Majoy Baron were joined by Petron Blaze Spikers Ces Molina and Mika Reyes during the drills.
Creamline’s Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado trained minimally to rest their respective injuries.
On the other hand, Foton’s Jaja Santiago and Dindin Santiago-Manabat showed up but had to leave early to train with the Tornadoes.
Reserves Rhea Dimaculangan and Denden Lazaro were absent due to mother team-related commitments.
The Nationals are set to train every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to prepare for the continental meet on August.
While attendance is a concern due to their limited preparation time, Delos Santos chooses to understand that his players have other pressing commitments.
“Based doon sa mga na-experience ng ibang coaches ng ibang teams, ayaw naming gawing problema [‘yung attendance], mas gusto naming bigyan siya ng solusyon,” said Delos Santos.
“‘Yung pupuntahan din naman nila, mga training din nila sa volleyball. Okay lang din sa amin kasi commitment nila ‘yun sa mga clubs nila.
“Sabi ko nga, hangga’t kayang makarating, sana makapunta kasi ‘yung mga gagawin nga naming mga plays at gameplan makita rin nila. Hindi naman totally okay, pero kailangan naman i-accept na ganoon talaga ‘yung pwedeng mangyari,” he closed.
