MANILA, Philippines – Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago headline the Philippine women’s volleyball team pool for the 2018 Asian Games this August in Indonesia.

Team captain Aby Maraño, Mika Reyes, Dawn Macandili and Myla Pablo also made the final cut of the 20-man pool, which will be trimmed to 14 for the continental meet. 

The announcement came days after Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc (LVPI) named Shaq delos Santos as the new head coach of the national women’s team.

Delos Santos, who took over following the surprise resignation of multi-titled coach Ramil de Jesus, only has two months to whip the squad into competitive shape. (READ: Shaq delos Santos debuts as head coach of women’s national volleyball team)

According Delos Santos, the members of the 20-woman pool, except for liberos Dawn Macandili and Denden Lazaro, were chosen based on their ability to adapt to different volleyball positions.

“So yung mga pinili namin good thing yung hindi lang isang position kayang laruin ng ibang players, kaya nilang maglaro ng other positions,” said Delos Santos.

(It’s a good thing that the players we chose can play not just one position, but multiple positions.) 

The final roster for the Asian Volleyball Championships and the Southeast Asian Games next year will also be drawn from the same pool.

Here’s the complete lineup:

1. Mika Reyes

2. Jaja Santiago

3. Jia Morado

4. Alyssa Valdez

5. Rebecca Rivera

6. CJ Rosario

7. Mylene Paat

8. Maika Ortiz

9. Rhea Dimaculangan

10. Ces Molina

11. Dindin Santiago-Manabat

12. Aby Maraño

13. Kianna Dy

14. Cha Cruz

15. Majoy Baron

16. Dawn Macandili

17. Kim Fajardo

18. Denden Lazaro

19. MJ Phillips

20. Myla Pablo

– Rappler.com