Solomon makes final cut as Alas Women open AVC Cup campaign vs Uzbekistan

Solomon and ZUS Coffee middle blocker Thea Gagate are the lone holdovers from the Alas Pilipinas team that competed in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, where the Filipinas finished fourth after falling to Vietnam in the bronze medal match.

As expected, Creamline star Alyssa Valdez was also included in the roster and is set to form a highly anticipated on-court partnership with former collegiate rival Ara Galang of Farm Fresh.

(C) PVL Images

Valdez and Galang will be joined in the outside hitter rotation by Creamline’s Tots Carlos and Farm Fresh standouts Ces Molina and Royse Tubino.

At the opposite spiker position, Solomon will team up with ZUS Coffee veteran Jovelyn Gonzaga. Gagate, meanwhile, will anchor the middle alongside Niña Ytang, who also withdrew from the PVL Draft, and Far Eastern University’s Cla Loresco.

Creamline playmaker Kyle Negrito and Choco Mucho’s third overall draft pick Tin Ubaldo will share setting duties. Then Kyla Atienza of Creamline and Alyssa Eroa of ZUS Coffee will serve as the team’s liberos.

Notably absent from the final roster are Farm Fresh’s Trisha Tubu and Far Eastern University’s Jaz Ellarina. Also missing the cut were Letran standouts Lara Mae Silva and Natalie Estreller, who had earlier withdrawn from the PVL Draft to focus on their national team commitments.

Alas Pilipinas, which settled for the silver medal in the previous edition of the tournament, is bracketed in Pool B and will begin its campaign against Uzbekistan at 3:00 PM on Saturday.