By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The country’s biggest names in the sport of women’s volleyball will once again unite when the AVC Challenge Cup kicks off from May 22 to 29, 2024, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Tats Suzara, the president of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), announced on May 15, 2024, the complete roster of the national team that will go up against the best volleyball teams in the world.
Leading the talented squad in the upcoming AVC Challenge Cup is Sisi Rondina, the superstar spiker of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans.
Despite failing to deliver the championship title to her mother franchise when they lost against the Creamline Cool Smashers, Rondina remained as one of the best outside attackers in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).
From the regular season to the PVL playoffs, it was Rondina who led the Flying Titans in the scoring department and steered them to their second consecutive grand finals trip.
Backstopping Rondina in the national team is Eya Laure, the offensive stalwart of the Chery Tiggo Crossovers.
The former UST Golden Tigress led the Crossovers to a return trip to the PVL playoffs but fell short of clinching a finals spot when they got eliminated during the round-robin semifinals.
Manning the floor coverage department are Jennifer Nierva and Dawn Macandili-Catindig, two of the best liberos in the PVL.
Meanwhile, the PNVF selected Cherry Nunag, Fifi Sharma, and Dell Palomata as the squad’s main middle blockers while rounding off the squad are Vanie Gandler and Faith Nisperos.
Suzara added that they also tapped the services of some of the best UAAP aces: NU’s Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon, DLSU’s Angel Canino, Julia Coronel, and Thea Gagate, and UE’s Casiey Dongallo.
