MANILA—After bringing to the country the 2014 Asian Men’s Volleyball
Club Championship, PLDT HOME once again powers another international
sporting event as eleven teams from across Asia descend upon the Philippines
anew this time to take part in the 2015 Asian Women’s Under-23 Volleyball
Championship to be held from May 1-9 at the renowned Philsports Arena
in Pasig City.
The country’s leading residential communications and multimedia services
provider will once again be at the forefront as the local contingent
vies to stamp its class against its Asian counterparts in its attempts
to re-establish a firm foothold in the sport and regain lost glory.
The U-23 was established by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC)
to bridge the gap between the youth tournaments and the seniors, thereby
creating a better transition between the two age groups. The Philippines
was unanimously selected as the initial venue; a testament to the growing
popularity of the sport in the archipelago PLDT HOME Ultera, the nation’s
staunchest supporter of volleyball, is once again on hand to help make
the undertaking a success.
PLDT EVP and Head of HOME Business Ariel Fermin said, PLDT HOME
has always been very supportive of youth development, sports excellence
most especially volleyball which the brand has been synonymous with
over the past few years. Our involvement in the 2015 Asian Women’s Under-23
tournament continues this thrust and it is our hope that our countrymen
come out and cheer for our girls with all their hearts.”
The Philippines will be represented by a phalanx of some of the best
in the collegiate ranks, bannered by PLDT Home Ultera star and Philippine
flag bearer to the 2015 Singapore Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Alyssa
Valdez as well as 6’6” Jaja Santiago of the National University.
Valdez, the reigning two-time UAAP MVP, and Santiago are joined on
the squad by Ateneo’s Jia Morado, Bea de Leon, Rissa Sato, Jhoanna Maraguinot
and late addition Ella de Jesus along with NU’s Myla Pablo, FEU’s Tin
Agno, San Sebastian’s Gretchel Soltones, and the UST pair of Ria Meneses
and EJ Laure. The team is coached by multi-titled Roger Gorayeb, with
Lady Eagles mentor Anusorn “Tai” Bundit as consultant.
PLDT VP and Head of Marketing Gary Dujali added “Our participation
in this momentous event highlights our PLDT HOME Ultera Install Patrol
nationwide tour, where we brought the country’s top volleyball superstars
in places like Cavite, Pampanga, Iloilo, Bacolod and Palawan among others.
The tour does not only provide greater access to broadband but supports
the sport through volleyball clinics and exciting exhibition games.
It is great to see the growth of the sport in such a short span of time.
Let’s support our team in the Asian Women’s Under-23 Championship.”
The local contingent has been drawn into Pool A and bracketed with
known powerhouses Iran and Kazakhstan. They open the hostilities against
the Iranians on May 1st while the Kazakhs are next on May 2nd.
Other countries seeing action are China, India and Macau (Pool B),
Japan, Chinese Taipei and Maldives (Pool C) rounded out by South Korea,
Thailand and Uzbekistan (Pool D—“Group of Death”)
The latter two matches of each game day will be aired live over TV5/AksyonTV.
PLDT HOME subscribers may watch this event via livestreaming on their
PCs, Telpad and Tvolution.
This once in a lifetime event is powered by PLDT Home Ultera, the
ultra fast LTE for a happy family with speeds up to 10MBPs for as low
as P999 a month.