AVC UNDER 23 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : TEAM PHILIPPINES GETS 7TH PLACE

Team Philippines finished their campaign with a win and gets 7th place amongst 12 countries in the first staging of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Under-23 Women's Champonship at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Bannered by the top collegiate volleybelles in the UAAP and NCAA, this is the first team that competed internationally in almost a decade. The last one was during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Manila where the team placed 3rd.

Team Philippines got a sweet revenge from their first group stage loss to Iran and beat them in the classification rounds in straight sets: 25-15, 25-21 and 26-24.

With this win, Team Philippines officially announces that we are back in the international stage. Considering that the team is only formed 3 weeks before the start of the tournament and has been turned down by some of the players that were invited, this is a good performance from a team with very minimal international experience.

Team Philippines were represented by top volleybelles Alyssa Valdez, Jaja Santiago, Jia Morado, Gretchen Soltones, Myla Pablo, Risa Sato, Bea de Leon, Riri Meneses, EJ Laure, Ella de Jesus, Jhoanna Maraguinot and Tin Agno. The team is coached by Roger Gorayeb and assisted by Tai Bundit.

It will be a busy month for volleyball. The Under 23 Men's Team will be competing next in Myanmar starting May 12, followed by the Asian Seniors Women's Championship in China this month. The men's and women's seniors team will also participate in the SEA Games in Singapore in June.

Pic is from the Volleyball PH Photo Album Facebook Page