Alinsunurin makes a draft plan, but admits that he is unlikely to choose the preferred name

By: Angel B. Dukha III – 3 minutes ago

PVL coach Dante Alinsunurin of Choco Mucho will receive his award from the Collegiate Press Coprs during the awards ceremony on Monday. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Dante Alinsunurin may not be open about who he plans to select in the upcoming Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Rookie Draft. But he was a bit more forthcoming with his selection strategy, with his Choco Mucho well down the picking order and with two crucial gaps that needed to be filled.

“We will also look at less desirable players, whoever we can develop or what else we can do to solve the problem we face every time at the end of the season,” he said.

The Flying Titans will be missing middle blocker Cherry Nunag and main weapon outside hitter Sisi Rondina, who will be on loan to Alas Pilipinas and will most likely be unavailable in July when the Nationals represent the country again in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenger Cup.

The UAAP champion coach knows what he is losing in both highlights and will look for players to replace their contributions.

“We are hopeful that we can find a player who can help us with scoring and blocking, to fill in what Sisi and Cherry have done on the field,” Alinsunurin told the Inquirer in Filipino upon being greeted as the UAAP -Men’s Volleyball Coach of the Year by the Collegiate Press Corps on Monday evening.

Manpower problems

But he was also realistic.

“Even though we know the youngsters performed well in the collegiate (ranks), it’s still different once they get (in the PVL), so the adjustment could still be an issue,” he said.

Alinsunurin has previously said he has an idea who the team will pick, but he prefers to keep those names in his back pocket as Choco Mucho won’t be picked until late in the draft and the chances of selecting highly sought-after names remain slim.

The Flying Titans, who have yet to announce their import, finished with silver in the final conference and thus got to select a player at the end of the first round, just ahead of champion team Creamline.

“Right now we have players in mind, but we don’t know if we will have the opportunity to select them, because you and I know what our needs are and what the needs of the other teams are as well,” Alinsunurin said. said.

Choco Mucho has faced unfortunate manpower issues in the recent conferences, with mainstays Des Cheng (outside hitter), Kat Tolentino (opposite) and Aduke Ogunsanya (middle blocker) injured.