A mixture of young and seasoned players will represent the country when it competes in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup starting next week at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Former Ateneo de Manila University star Jia de Guzman will spearhead the national squad that the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) christened as “Alas Pilipinas.”

De Guzman, who just came from a fruitful stint with the Denso Airybees in the Japan V. League is expected to provide the leadership and share the experience she gained from representing the country in various international events like the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and other continental meets.

Backing up De Guzman will be Premier Volleyball League veterans Jen Nierva and Eya Laure of Chery Tiggo as well as Sisi Rondina and Cherry Nunag of Choco Mucho, which pushed Creamline to the limit in the recent All-Filipino Conference finals.

Interestingly, not a single Cool Smasher cracked the final roster that was revealed to Daily Tribune by PNVF national team commissioner chairman Tonyboy Liao last week.

Alas Pilipinas head coach Edson Souza de Brito said Creamline players were invited but begged off.

“The players from Creamline, they were invited. It’s not that they were not included. They were invited but they declined,” the Brazilian mentor said, adding that he expressed interest in having three Cool Smashers in the national team.

“They cannot come to the national team now. Maybe in the future, they will.”

Still, the team will not lack firepower as Fifi Sharma and Faith Nisperos of Akari, Dawn Catindig and Vannie Gandler of Cignal and Del Palomata of PLDT were also included in the final roster.

The PNVF also tapped collegiate stars Angel Canino, Thea Gagate and Julia Coronel of De La Salle University, Casiey Dongallo of University of the East and Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon of National University (NU) to round out the squad that aims to bounce back from its seventh-place finish in Gresik, East Java in Indonesia last year.

Initially, Ivy Lacsina of Nxled and Jonah Sabete and Djanel Cheng of Petro Gazz were included in the roster but they got replaced after the collegiate players expressed willingness to join.

But De Brito admitted that translating their strength on paper into victories on the court will be a challenge, especially with time running out.

“Still they are not practicing together but as you can see, I think it’s the strongest one. It’s a mix between UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) players, some (came) from the PVL,” De Brito said.

“Since we have one more week to prepare, we just had practice yesterday, not with the full (lineup), not all of them. But I think maybe after tomorrow we’re gonna be complete to finalize our preparation.”

Canino, the UAAP Season 85 Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, expressed her excitement over her inclusion in the national squad.

“National team is a big opportunity for us so we can see where we are lacking, and what else we need to do for ourselves. We’re given an opportunity to represent our country so we’re very proud of it,” Canino said.

“I’m really looking forward to having Ate Jia (De Guzman) as a setter, before, I was just watching her execute sets. She’s really good. I mean, she really has that connection to each and every one inside (the court).”

Meanwhile, Bryan Bagunas, Marck Espejo and Jau Umandal will banner the men’s squad.

They will be joined by UAAP standouts Josh Ybañez and Sherwin Umandal from University of Santo Tomas, Jade Disquitado, Nico Almendras, Owa Retamar, Rwenzmel Taguibolos, Jenngerard Diao, Joseph Bello of NU, Noel Kampton of La Salle, and Lloyd Josafat of UE.