De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde head coach Jerry Yee revealed that the tandem of Gayle Pascual and Zam Nolasco were invited to join the Alas Pilipinas pool for the AVC Challenge Cup for Women slated next month.
The two aces had to beg off this time as the Lady Blazers are currently in the middle of their title retention bid in the NCAA Season 99 women's volleyball tournament.
"Zam is very young. Zam is in her second year now. Unfortunately, hindi kami makakasama sa AVC," Yee said in a post-game interview on Sunday.
"Inimbitahan si Zam at si Gayle kaya lang, syempre, uunahin namin ang NCAA. In the middle of the AVC tournament ‘yun so hindi kami makaka-join."
(Zam and Gayle were invited but of course, we will prioritize NCAA. It's in the middle of the AVC tournament so we cannot join.)
Pascual and Nolasco are among the two leading players for the Lady Blazers.
The graduating opposite hitter Pascual is the top spiker across the league with 36.87 success rate while sophomore Nolasco is the second best blocking player behind Mapua's Nicole Ong with an average of 0.63 blocks per set.
However, their focus is solely on their title retention bid in the NCAA.
Nolasco churned out 12 points anchored on four blocks while Pascual poured in 14 markers.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
