MANILA, Philippines — The Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. has given Shaq delos Santos a chance to redeem himself following the national women’s volleyball team that wound up winless and dead last out of just four teams in last December’s 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The LVPI board headed by its president Joey Romasanta also decided to retain Dante Alinsunurin, who steered the men’s squad to a historic silver-medal performance in the biennial meet that was highlighted by a miraculous, shock triumph over former champion Thailand in the semifinals.
It was a performance to remember for the men’s squad and Alinsunurin, who helped the country capture its second men's silver in the biennial event.
While the country did not win a single gold in volleyball, the LVPI accounted itself well in the SEAG where it snared three medals including two beach volley bronzes courtesy of the Beach Volleyball Republic-organized men’s and women’s squad.
Delos Santos will thus be the longest-serving coach since the LVPI replaced the Philippine Volleyball Federation as the country’s governing body in the sport five years ago as former mentors Roger Gorayeb, Francis Vicente and Ramil de Jesus served one year or less.
Under Delos Santos’ watch, the Filipinas ended up eighth out of 11 countries in the Asian Games in Indonesia two years ago and second to last in the 10-squad Asian Cup.
The Nationals, however, bounced back with a pair of solid bronze medal finishes in the newly-formed ASEAN Grand Prix last year before being sent straight back to Earth with a forgettable SEAG effort.
But the LVPI still has high hopes that Delos Santos will help carry the team back to prominence as he handles the squad seeing action in two international tournaments this year.
Ironically, Danai Sriwacharamaytakul, women’s volleyball coach of reigning SEAG champion Thailand, resigned early this week for failing to steer the Thais to the Tokyo Olympics.