Alas Pilipinas replacing Petro Gazz as PH entry to 2025 VTV Cup

May 23 ------ A LATE switch has Alas Pilipinas Women instead of Petro Gazz representing the country in the 2025 VTV Cup in Vietnam from June 28 to Jul 5 in Vinh Phuc.  

Multiple sources have confirmed to SPIN.ph that the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) has opted to field the national team in the annual tournament as an another opportunity to prepare for a hectic 2025 calendar. It was also made clear that the Angels were the first-choice representatives in the tournament where the Philippines has sent either a club or a college team to play rather than the national team over the last two years. However, certain requirements weren't processed on time which led to the PNVF's decision to field Alas Women instead just as the nationals have resumed training for their upcoming continental competitions this year. With the change, there will now be four senior national teams and two Under-21 sides in the competition. Alas Women will be joined by China’s Sichuan Women's Volleyball Club and the national teams of host country Vietnam and Australia in Pool A. 

The opposite pool is to be headlined by Russian club and defending champion Korabelka, Chinese Taipei and the Under-21 national teams of Vietnam and Thailand. This will be the nationals’ second international competition of the year following the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup from Jun. 7 to 14. Their aim now is to match the country’s third-place finish in 2023 by two-time PVL runner-up Choco Mucho and avoid a repeat of last year’s eighth-place finish by two-time UAAP champion National University. 

In 2023, national players Sisi Rondina and Maddie Madayag were named as the tournament's best outside hitter and middle blocker, respectively. Alas Pilipinas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito told SPIN.ph that he and the rest of the nationals’ coaching staff are still in the process of finalizing the lineup for their upcoming regional competitions. The Brazilian mentor said that the wait for the highly-anticipated roster reveal won’t be too long from now. 

Source: spin.ph