By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Fil-Americans Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips and Tia Andaya are the new faces in the Alas Pilipinas women’s volleyball team that will see action in the 2025 VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup happening on June 28 to July 5 in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam.
The hard-hitting Van Sickle boasts of two Most Valuable Player plums while playing for the Petro Gazz Angels with teammate Phillips, who copped the Finals MVP during their successful title-clinching campaign in the 2024-2025 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
Andaya, for her part, was a rookie recently drafted by the Choco Mucho Flying Titans but has experience playing in club teams in Albania and Romania.
The team will be without Bella Belen, the overall No. 1 pick in the PVL, La Salle’s Angel Canino, NU’s Alyssa Solomon, and Adamson’s Shaina Nitura to allow them to take a breather following their grueling collegiate and national team commitments.
The collegiate stars, especially Belen and Canino, played key roles in the team’s historic 2nd place finish in the AVC Nations Cup.
Other players in the squad are middle blockers Maddie Madayag, Amie Provido, Nations Cup Best Middle Blocker Dell Palomata, Fifi Sharma and Thea Gagate.
Skipper Jia De Guzman is expected to banner the crew that also has fellow setters Lams Lamina and Mars Alba, while Van Sickle joins fellow wing spikers Eya Laure, Vanie Gandler, Alleiah Malaluan and Leila Cruz.
Liberos Dawn Catindig and Justine Jazareno complete the team coached by Jorge De Brito.
The Filipina spikers are bracketed in Pool A of the eight-team tournament along with host Vietnam, Sichuan Wuliangchun of China and Australia.
Pool B has Vietnam’s Under-21 squad along with Thailand’s Est Cola, Russian crew Korabelka and Chinese Taipei.
The PH team will have their hands full in its first match on June 29 when it immediately faces powerhouse Vietnam, followed by Sichuan Wuliangchun on June 30, and Australia on July 1.
