Three Filipina volleyball players are looking to become the next imports when the 2024 South Korean V-League (KOVO) holds its Women’s Asian Quota Draft this month.

Mylene Paat of Chery Tiggo, Tots Carlos of Creamline and MJ Phillips of Petro Gazz threw their names in the 36-player draft pool together with other prized Asian players outside South Korea.

A former national team player, Paat already played as an import after competing for Nakhon Ratchasima in the Women’s Volleyball Thailand League in 2022.

Carlos, who starred for University of the Philippines in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, has yet to play for a foreign club but is the reigning Most Valuable Player in the country’s top domestic league — the Premier Volleyball League.

The Filipino-American Phillips, meanwhile, is the most accomplished in the troika as she already has an experience with a Korean club after leading the Gwangju AI Peppers to a seventh-place finish last year with 5-31 record.

Aside from the Filipinas, also joining the KOVO draft are Thai national team members Chitaporn Kamlangmak and Kuttika Kaepwin, who played for Cool Smashers as an import from 2017 to 2019.

Unlike last year in which the players were drafted, the three worst-performing squads from last season will be given the privilege to take a crack at the talent-laden pool.

Gwangju, Hwaseong IBK Altos and Gimcheon Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-Pass are the three worst-performing team last season, giving Phillips a chance to redeem herself if and when the AI Peppers decide to draft her with the first overall pick.

Those who will be drafted get a chance to score hefty paychecks as the KOVO dangles $125,000 — or roughly P7 million — to

first-year players in a seven-month season while second second-year standouts will be given salaries of around $150,000.