Photo Credit l ABS-CBN News
by LORENZO MARCO IBANEZ | Sports Correspondent
The country’s star spiker Alyssa Valdez and red-hot setter Jia Morado have been excluded from the Philippine national team, its volleyball consultant Jorge Souza de Brito said during the PSA Forum. The Brazilian Olympic volleyball champion and mentor added that he needed “some fresh blood, younger, and taller players.” Last week, the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) announced the formation of the men’s and two women’s squads, including Team Choco Mucho composed of the 24-woman pool headed by Dindin Santiago-Manabat, MJ Phillips, Kalei Mau, Rhea Dimaculangan and Majoy Baron, for the next month’s Asian Club Volleyball Championship in Thailand, but was under hot waters in social media for Valdez and Morado’s exclusion, who are just 28, and 26 years old, respectively, but skipped the tryouts over health and safety concerns last April. Souza de Brito said he scouted players for the national team based on the performances in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and the recently concluded Premier Volleyball League Open Conference, and he thinks he “made the best decision for the volleyball team.”
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