Philippine volleyball phenom Alyssa Valdez adds to the list of stars, who begged off from the national team tryouts slated to kick off on Wednesday, April 28 in Subic.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) board member Ricky Palou confirmed the news to Rappler on Tuesday, April 27.

“Alyssa begged off from the tryouts for the national team. Several players actually begged off for safety reasons given the current pandemic situation,” Palou told Rappler in a text message.

But according to the Premier Volleyball League president, the tryouts would still push through.

Filipino-Hawaiian Kalei Mau was also skipping the tryouts as she would be pursuing a professional volleyball stint in the Puerto Rican league.

National team captain Aby Maraño and mainstay Majoy Baron, though, were among the invitees who showed up in the bubble. They took their RT-PCR swab tests on Tuesday.

Veteran coach Odjie Mamon and Dante Alinsunurin would head the indoor volleyball tryouts for the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively at the Subic Gym.

“We are looking at specific qualities for specific positions, and not the individual, but the aspirant’s qualities himself or herself,” Mamon said.

Beach volleyball coaches Paul Jan Doloiras (women) and Rhovyl Verayo (men) set the same policies and parameters in the selection of national athletes, who were set to see action in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. – Rappler.com