MANILA, Philippines – United Volleyball Club, formerly known as Cocolife, ushered in a new era in its young franchise as it reached a deal with a promising playmaker in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix starting February 16.
Team official Joshua Ylaya announced that Filipino-Hawaiian setter Alohi Robins-Hardy arrived Saturday afternoon to put them on the verge of completing a powerhouse roster that can give reigning champion Petron and F2 Logistics a run for their money.
Ylaya said Robins-Hardy is the one the doctor ordered for them.
She is a setter who stands a little taller than Dindin Manabat at 6-foot-3 and is oozing with experience after campaigning for Brigham Young University in the Division I of the US National Collegiate Athletic Association.
She also campaigned for ZOK Spartak Subotice in the prestigious Serbian Super League, giving her a taste of international action.
But more than that, the very reason why she agreed to return to her roots is to see action for the women’s national team, a vision that is similar to what her good friend and fellow Filipino-Hawaiian Kalei Mau has in mind.
“During the negotiations, we stressed that playing here may give them a shot to play for the national team because they are Filipinos and are eligible to suit for us,” said Ylaya, adding that Robins-Hardy will play a major role to their championship run.
“We’re very excited to have Alohi in our roster. She’s a tall setter who can score and defend. With her, we suddenly have an elite blocker who can make it harder for the opposing teams to attack.”
The off-season has been action-packed for Cocolife.
After making a serious run for Myla Pablo and losing Denden Lazaro, Ylaya and the management team worked hard to come up with a very strong starting unit.
They decided to bring back Mau, arguably the best attacker last tournament, while recruiting Bang Pineda from Generika-Ayala and Amy Ahomiro of New Zealand from the rival league.
Then, they tapped Robins-Hardy to pair her with import Yasmeen Bedart-Ghani and another reinforcement who will play the open spiker role.
“So now we have Alohi at setter, Kalei and the second import at open, Yasmeen at opposite, Amy and Arianne (Angustia) at the middle and Bang at the backline,” Ylaya said.
“I guess we have assembled a pretty competitive lineup.”
But the biggest change for UVC will be its head coach position.
Moro Branislav will no longer return for another tour of duty after accepting a role to become the head coach of the Chinese Taipei men’s national team.
“We consider coach Moro as one of the best coaches we ever had and pleasure of working with,” said Ylaya, who will sit as interim coach after serving as the understudy of the noted Serbian.
“In the one year we had him, we learned so much. We believe that his vast experience that he shared with us is priceless. Unfortunately, we had to part ways in order to achieve what this club has initially set to do and we are happy to see him where he belongs — coaching a national team.”