MANILA – Negrenses Patty Jane Orendain and Geneveve Casugod will be among the veteran players when the BaliPure Purest Water Defenders compete in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League next month.
Orendain of Bacolod City and Casugod of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental were both part of the Purest Water Defenders roster that finished 3-6 in the 2021 PVL Open Conference.
Orendain was a former University of St. La Salle-Bacolod standout while Casugod was formerly with the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws. They were among the key players that kept Bali Pure afloat in the previous season.
Apart from the Negrenses, also making a return for the Purest Water Defenders this season are Alina Bicar, Bernadette Flora, Gyra Barroga, Carlota Hernandez, and Satriani Espiritu.
Bali Pure also made their moves in the free agency by acquiring former Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagle Jhoanna Maraguinot, whose former team Perlas Spikers took a leave this year.
Also transferring in to Bali Pure were Norielle Ipac, Janine Marciano and Rapril Aguilar from Cignal HD Spikers, Alyssa Eroa from PLDT High Speed Hitters, Marian Buitre from Chery Tiggo, and Jamie Lavitoria from Choco Mucho.
Water Defenders team manager Gil Cortez said that while the current roster is not as powerhouse as the previous BaliPure team, the current bunch of players will surely give their all in their games.
“It’s a balanced team compared to last year,” said Cortez. “Last year, our offense revolved around Graze [Bombita], [Bern] Flora, and Gyra [Barroga].”
Bali Pure head coach Rommel Abella, for his part, said the main target of the Water Defenders in the upcoming tournament is to make it to the semifinals and see what will happen from there.
“We’ll take it one game at a time. The plan is to build and work on it. What we are doing is working on our strengths and weaknesses and eventually to see what positions players we need,” he said./PN
