April 20 ------ ANOTHER international volleyball meet will be staged on Philippine shores in the 2024 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenge Cup for Women on May 22 to 29. Eleven Asian teams, including the Philippines as the host nation, will duke it out for the Challenge Cup last won by Vietnam in 2022 and first won by Hong Kong in the inaugural staging of the tournament in 2021.
With both professional and collegiate volleyball tournaments still ongoing, it is expected that the women's national team roster will be named weeks prior to the competition. However, it remains uncertain whether such a Philippine team roster will feature an all-collegiate pool of UAAP and NCAA standouts, a selection of Premier Volleyball League (PVL) stars or a combination of both.
In the Philippines' tournament debut last year, the Akari Chargers led by then-national team head coach Jorge Souza de Brito were tapped to represent the country including reinforcements from other PVL sides and collegiate teams. The nationals scored three victories against four defeats, including a four-set win over Uzbekistan to clinch seventh place in the 11-team field.
As per the tournament's official ticketing site TicketMax, the Challenge Cup will take place at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila. The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), however, has yet to announce full details for the forthcoming tournament.
Source: spin.ph