THE Philippine women’s volleyball team will get an early workout ahead of its campaign in the 2022 AVC Cup for Women in August.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon “Tats” Suzara announced that the country will welcome the Chinese team a month before the competition commences.

“They will stay here for a month and they’ll have a regular scrimmage with our team,” he said on Friday during the signing ceremony of the federation with new backer Akari.

China’s roster for the 21st Asian Women’s Under-20 Volleyball Championship in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from July 4 to 11 will be the same one that will play in Manila for the AVC Cup set from August 21 to 29.

“They will be coming straight from Kazakhstan,” said Suzara as the Chinese team opted to go straight to the Philippines rather than undergo another 14-day quarantine if they go back home to China.”

This will also mark the start of the partnership between the PNVF and Akari, with the lighting company pumped to extend its support to the national team.

“It has always been the core of the company: to put the light in every home, so we want to put the light on every sport,” said Akari sports director Russell Balbacal. “We started at the grassroots level, we supported Adamson, we have a professional team, and now, we’re supporting the national team.”

Chargers team manager Mozzy Ravena also said that the talks between the two camps went very smoothly, noting: “Ang bilis ng pangyayari but we’re all happy na Akari is now part of the national team. Yung passion for volleyball and wanting to help is number one for us.”

PVL team Akari taps Jorge Souza de Brito as head Coach as announced on Thursday.

The Chargers are making their debut in the third conference of the season. 

Souza de Brito was part of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) last year when he was tapped to help in the development of the women’s national team.

He played for the Brazil’s men’s national volleyball team that won gold in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and has had coaching stints in Brazil, Turkey, Japan, and Korea.

Also, back in the fold for the national team were Ivy Lacsina, Jennifer Nierva, and Kamille Cal of National University, and Imee Hernandez and Bernadett Pepito of University of Santo Tomas.

Souza de Brito, though, hopes that the two months’ training time will be more than enough to prepare these girls for the upcoming tournament given the wealth of talent that the current group has.

“If you can make a pool of 30 players, all you need is time to work to give them a chance to play at a high level. Our target is to make the national team. In the long term, we have to prepare for them. We have to bring them inside, a lot of stars that are really good, but we have to support them because they are the future,” he said.

The Philippines is placed in Pool A together with China, Iran, Korea, and Vietnam for the August 21 to 29 tilt at Philsports Arena in Pasig.