The coaching staff of Generika with volleybelles who attended the Cebu tryouts.
GENERIKA LifeSavers mentor Francis Vicente was impressed with the talent he saw during the Cebu tryouts for his team on Thursday night at the Aznar Coliseum.
The tryouts for the team participating in the prestigious Philippine Superliga (PSL) was attended by some of the top volleybelles from the Southwestern University (SWU).
Vicente said that the raw talent he saw lived up to his expectations, which led him to call Cebu, “volleyball country.”
“Cebu is a place in which some of the coaches get talents. Our assistant coaches are from here. That’s proof,” Vicente said of assistants Mayi Prochina and Nene Chavez, who won gold medals in the 1993 Southeast Asian Games.
Leading the attendees were Cesafi women’s champions Al Sheree Eupeñia, Nathalie Gimeno and Dyan Darantinao, who impressed the coaching staff with their incredible all-around games.
Aside from the three, the tryouts was also participated by the 2015 Cesafi Most Valuable Player (MVP) Floremel Rodriguez, 2016 Cesafi MVP Therese Rae Ramas, Necca Rose Dela Llana, Janelle Cabahug, Maria Elah Silva and some high school players of SWU, who were supposed to be there just to watch the tryouts.
But Generika LifeSavers management decided to let the high school players experience the tryouts by assessing their physiological and medical conditions.
Among the high school players present were 2015 Cesafi girls MVP Wella Ortega, Carla Jean Gaudan, Rosyll Roncal, Junabelle Gempero and 2016 Shakeys V-League Central Visayas MVP Mary Angielou Castillo, all from SWU.
Vicente, also the coach of the University of the East women’s volleyball team, said no one really stood out in the tryouts but he was interested in one high school player whom he believed had potential.
He, however, would not divulge the name but he said she will be offered a spot by a team in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
The LifeSavers will be hosting a tryout in Davao today.
After the tryouts, the team management is set to deliberate and review the profiles of the players in Cebu and Davao before making decisions on who to sign up.
The PSL Invitational Cup starts this month.