Galeries eyeing outside spiker at No. 3 in PVL Rookie Draft

MANILA, Philippines — Galeries Tower looks to continue building its young lineup through the 2024 PVL Rookie Draft on July 8 as it targets a scorer for its third pick and also eyeing a setter and middle blocker in the succeeding rounds.

The Highrisers coaching staff, led by coach Lerma Giron and deputy Godfrey Okumu, were in full force on the final day of the draft combine at GameVille Ball Park on Wednesday.

They already have names on top of their minds but they didn’t divulge to protect their target players.

“We could get one of those positions. The setter, outside spiker, even an opposite, or a middle blocker. These players really add value because they’re just coming into the PVL. They’re new. The difference will be the one who settles first are the one who will add more value to their teams,” said Okumu, whose squad earned the third pick in the lottery.

“I think there’s a lot of talent. As I’ve said before I came to the Philippines, there’s a lot of talent in Philippine volleyball,” he added.

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The Kenyan coach said their priority is an outside spiker, who can be a game-changer for their team, which only had a total of four wins in the past two All-Filipino Conferences.

“In our team, we hope that the person we will get will come in settled and get to know the team better. That’s the most important thing, building the team together. With the people who are in and the people coming in,” Okumu said.

Okumu said that they will also bring a Brazilian outside spiker as an import but he didn’t disclose the name as the management will announce it in the coming days.

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“We have a Brazilian girl, she’s coming in soon and we hope that she can fill the gap of one of the outside spiker positions. We cannot name it for now, we wanna make it official. Sometimes in the Philippines, we like fiesta. We wait for the right time like we have a big feast, we eat, and then we name names. I think it’s cool,” he said.

With a chance to bolster their roster through the PVL draft, Okumu is optimistic about the Highrisers’ future in the pros.

“Last season, when we started, we had new players and we didn’t have time to train together with the new players so by the team the league was coming to an end, that’s when we were kinda getting to know each other, and beginning to work together. That’s why there’s a struggle in the beginning and by the end it is strong. That’s why we believe this time, we will start strong,” he said.