Women’s volleyball Philippines

Philippines volleyball stars (from left): Angeli Tabaquero, Suzanne Roces, Nerissa Bautista, Michelle Carolino, Mary Jean Balse, Rachel Anne Daquis, Charo Soriano, Angela Benting and Alyssa Valdez

MANILA, Philippines — Women’s volleyball popularity in the Philippines are rising despite being a basketball country.

The reason for the rise in the popularity of women’s volleyball comes from the V-League, which is created by a group called Sports Vision. Sports Vision was founded by Ricky Palou, Moying Martelino and the late former Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Jun Bernardino who had deep roots in basketball.

The Shakey’s V-League gave collegiate stars now have a mainstream audience to showcase their skills, not to mention their own cult following in their respective schools.

“It was Shakey’s that showed faith in women’s volleyball,” said Gretchen Ho, Cainglet’s equally popular Ateneo teammate.

The players felt the tournament’s impact immediately.

“I was surprised when people came to watch us play,” said Suzanne Roces, the former star of the San Sebastian volleyball varsity program, speaking of her early days in the V-League. “Before, the only people who would watch us play were our schoolmates.”

Roces, Cainglet and Ho are just part of the stable of stars that the V-League has produced. University of Santo Tomas’ Mary Jean Balse and Angeli Tabaquero, Ateneo’s Charo Soriano and Alyssa Valdez, Far Eastern University’s Rachel Anne Daquis, La Salle’s Michelle Carolino and Adamson’s Angela Benting have also crossed over to mainstream consciousness because of the Shakey’s tournament. Daquis, has also been seen in the modeling world.


While the V-League gave the collegiate stars and the sport even more popularity, it was a college game that amplified that popularity.


“The rivalry really helped add to the hype for women’s volleyball,” Ho said in a television interview.

Read more: http://sports.inquirer.net/101779/womens-volleyball-rises-in-ph#ixzz2UUIbfTEb