MANILA, Philippines – The national tryouts for indoor and beach volleyball get going Wednesday in Subic with at least one marquee player not making the trip — power-hitting Filipina-Hawaiian Kalei Mau.
The 6-1 Mau has signed up as an import with Changos de Naranjito in the Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino in Puerto Rico and would have to skip the qualification process and possibly a spot to the national squad seeing action in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi in November.
Mau is one of the 40 invited by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) to grace the three-day selection process that is composed of the country’s top stars including former SEA Games flag-bearer Alyssa Valdez.
“I want you to hear it from me first that I will be playing abroad for two and a half months,” said the 26-year-old Mau on her Twitter account. “I plan to return to the Philippines after this quick stint to compete in the PVL (Premier Volleyball League) with my team F2 Logistics.
“With that being said, I will not be able to attend the national team tryouts this week due to travel restrictions and safety risks. But my dream to play for the Philippine flag has and will not change,” she added.
Apart from the women’s squad, there will also be tryouts for the men’s side as well as the men and women beach volley teams to be supervised by national team coaches Odjie Mamon (women), Dante Alinsunurin (men), Paul Jan Doloiras (women beach) and Rhovyl Verayo (men beach).
“We are looking at specific qualities for specific positions, and not the individual, but the aspirant’s qualities himself or herself,” said Mamon.
“We will be focusing on basic skills on offense and defense, as well as height, tactics or strategy, attitude, leadership and championship experience," Alinsunurin, who steered the men’s to a historic silver in the 2019 SEA Games, for his part, said.
The volleyball tryouts are set today and tomorrow at the Subic Gym while beach volley is on Friday at the Subic Tennis Courts.
The PNVF had already done PCR tests last Monday and yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and it was reported that none turned out positive. – With a report from John Bryan Ulanday