PH beach volley teams to bank on home turf edge
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2019 16:14:49 +0000
Armed with local and international exposures, the Philippine men’s and women’s beach volleyball sides expressed confidence of gifting the country podium finishes in the coming Southeast Asian Games, which runs November 30 to December 11.
The nationals, according to Dzi Gervacio, who will be partnering with Dij Rodriguez in one of two women’s teams, are actually in the process of wrapping up their build up program at Subic, site of the beach volley competitions.
“We’re ready and raring to go,” Gervacio, who writes a sports column for The Manila Times, said rather excitedly in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
“Grabe, Sir, and ensayo namin kahit days na lang at start na ang competition. Morning and evening, but it’s worth it naman cuz, it, not only hone our skills further, it, likewise, provide as the needed bonding para kami maging closer with each other lalo,” Gervacio said.
“We’ve been together for only five days here in Subic, pero we’ve really learned a lot. Besides, para na kaming magkakapatid,” she asserted. “And iba talaga ang feeling training mismo sa site ng competition.”
The four PH teams, two each in the men’s and women’s divisions, have been at Subic since Friday last week, where the members have been patching the remaining holes in their arsenal, Gervacio, who also co-hosts the weekly Scoop Forum, said.
The men’s Team I is made up of Edmar Bonono and Jude Garcia, while Team 2 is composed of Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago.
Besides Gervacio and Rodriguez, the pair of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons will also see action in the women’s play.
Gervacio used to be a member of the famous “Fab Five” of the UAAP indoor champion Ateneo along with similarly head turners Alyssa Valdez and Gretchen Ho, among others.
She was paired with Rondina in the the FIVB World Tour Manila Open in 2018 where they ended up fifth overall. The statuesque Gervacio is also a member of the Banco Perlas squad in the recent PVL series.
Bonono might be a first time in the SEA Games, but is a veteran AVC circuit campaigner since 2016. The 30th SEA Games will be Garcia’s second following his stint in the 2017 edition played in Singapore when hoist Malaysia dropped beach volleyball from the calendar of events.
Both Bonono and Garcia, who was first runner up in the 79th, 81st and 82nd UAAP seasons, play for Cignal HD Spikers team in local tournaments. EDDIE G.ALINEA