Casiey Dongallo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Another volleyball player from Catmon town in northern Cebu is about to make her mark in the international arena as one of the country’s representatives in women’s volleyball for the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam this May.
Cebuana high school volleyball sensation Casiey Dongallo was selected to the final line-up of the country’s women’s national volleyball team alongside Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago.
The 5-foot-6 Dongallo, a former player of Catmon Integrated School’s volleyball team of teacher/coach Vilma Veloso caught the selection committee’s attention following her impressive performance in last year’s Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champion’s League.
In a report from Inquirer sports, Dongallo will be joined in the national team by her California Precision Sports teammate Jelai Gajero and fellow Cebuana Deanna Wong who plays for Choco Mucho in the Premier Volleyball League.
The rest of the players selected to carry the country’s colors that made it to the final line-up include Mylene Paat, Iris Tolenada, Kath Arado, Dawn Macandili, Dell Palomata, Aby Maraño, Ria Meneses, Ces Molina, Jema Galanza, Kat Tolentino, and Majoy Baron.
Dongallo was discovered during the PNVF Champion’s League last year when she emerged as the top scorer with 95 points against pro spikers.
Aside from the SEA Games, Dongallo is also gearing up for the 14th Asian Women’s U17 Volleyball Championships in Thailand in June and the 21st Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championships in China in July.
The PH team will be coached by Brazilian Jorge Souza de Brito.
Five top volleybelles Kalei Mau, Jia Morado, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Kianna Dy, and Jasmin Nabor decided not to join the national team.
The Pinays are expected to train abroad, particularly in Brazil to prepare for the SEA Games. The Philippines placed fourth in the 2019 edition of the biennial regional meet in Manila with world-ranked Thailand winning the gold medal for the 12th straight time. /rcg
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