Volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez is expected to grace the 47th season of the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) which fires off Saturday at the Makati Coliseum in Makati City.
League executive director Maria Vivian Manila yesterday said the 23-year-old spiker, who guided Ateneo to two UAAP volleyball championships, epitomizes this season’s theme, “Women on Fire: A Legacy of Passion”.
“Her perseverance to reach where she is right now can motivate young female athletes from different schools who want to be like her,” said Manila. “She is a perfect model as a woman with passion.”
St. Jude Catholic School plays host this season for the first time, with 15 other member schools competing in badminton, basketball, cheerdance (elementary), cheerleading, futsal, poomsae, softball, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, and volleyball.
Member schools are Angelicum College, Assumption College San Lorenzo, Centro Escolar University, Chiang Kai Shek College, De La Salle Zobel, La Salle College Antipolo, Miriam College, Philippine Women’s University, Rizal Technological University, Saint Pedro Poveda College, San Beda Alabang, St. Paul College Pasig, St. Scholastica’s College, St. Stephen’s High School, and University of Asia & the Pacific.
Opening ceremonies will start at 10 a.m., and will be followed by basketball games pitting junior teams St. Jude College versus St. Stephen at 12 noon; senior squads CEU against RTU at 1:30 p.m.; and senior teams Miriam College over PWU at 3 p.m.
With host St. Jude being a Filipino-Chinese school, the ceremony will feauture the Fil-Chinese culture and a fusion of performances that include dragon dance, lion heads, and fire-themed dances.
TV5/ Aksyon TV will be showing the ceremonies on a still unannounced date, as well as matches in selected sports.