PVL teams gear up for the upcoming conference by shuffling players and coaches to shake up their teams.
In the teams’ preparations for the upcoming 2023 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference on February 4, coaches and players have jumped ship to shake the lineups of different teams.
The moves started with Chery Tiggo Crossovers letting go of one of its tenured players in Dindin Santiago-Manabat after six years and a couple of championships together.
Multiple sources have gathered that PVL teams are already trying to land Santiago-Manabat in their ship, however, she is also looking to play again overseas, particularly in South Korea, Inquirer reported.
Shortly after, the Crossovers announced that they have signed outside spiker Ponggay Gaston, who has been a part of Choco Mucho Flying Titans in the past two years, along with her college teammates from Ateneo.
“Welcome to the team, Pauline “Ponggay” Gaston! What a way to start the year off. We look forward to a thrilling journey ahead with you,” the team wrote.
On the other side of the playing field, coaches have also moved from one team to another, starting with PLDT replacing George Pascua with Rald Ricafort who has spent the last four years with the Petro Gazz Angels, reported Tiebreaker Times.
Ricafort will be teaming up with another veteran coach in Arnold Laniog of the De La Salle University Green Spikers to try to replicate the Angels’ 2022 PVL Reinforced Conference championship run.
“I’m very grateful to Petro Gazz sa four years we spent there dahil natulungan nila kami to be the coach that we are today,” said the young coach Ricafort.
“Sa binanggit sa akin ng PLDT na they want to have a youth movement beginning with the coach, yun din nakita ko na direction na dapat itakbo ng career ko. Tinake ko siya as the perfect opportunity to have a new environment,” he added.
And lastly, after a lukewarm Reinforced conference, Choco Mucho has tapped multi-titled men’s volleyball coach Dante Alinsunurin to call the shots for the team as announced on Friday.
The men’s national team coach brought his fellow Air Force man and former national team setter Jessie Lopez as his lead assistant.
Tags: #PVL, #volleyball, #openconference