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Volleyball: Denden Lazaro takes a chance in trying out for national team

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/04/19/denden.jpg"/><figcaption>Cocolife libero Denden Lazaro. Handout photo</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – After making it to the women&#x27;s national volleyball team in 2017, Denden Lazaro was one of the surprise omissions by new head coach Ramil de Jesus in his master list of players for the 2018 pool.De Jesus, the architect of De La Salle University&#x27;s dynasty in the UAAP, included Dawn Macandili of the Lady Spikers, Kath Arado of the University of the East Lady Warriors, and Melissa Gohing of Creamline as his liberos in the 34-woman list.But De Jesus made it clear that his tryout was open to all interested players, and not just the 34 women who were invited. Thus, it was of little surprise to see Lazaro show up on Wednesday at the Arellano Gym, for the second day of the national team tryouts.&quot;The management from my team, first of all, they wanted me to show up here,&quot; said Lazaro, who plays for Cocolife in the Philippine Superliga.&quot;Also, my former teammates from the national team wanted me to come,&quot; she added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/volleyball/news/2018/04/18/kahit-saan-ako-ilagay-ni-coach-pablo-nat-l-team-hopes-40502">READ: Pablo willing to switch from open to opposite for a spot in the national team</a></li></ul>For Lazaro, not being included in De Jesus&#x27;s master list was not a slight. &quot;No naman,&quot; she insists. &quot;It&#x27;s a new year. It&#x27;s a new set of people who are going to handle the team.&quot;The &quot;new set of people&quot; in charge of the team is one of the reasons that Lazaro still showed up to the tryout, despite not being invited. The former Ateneo de Manila University standout holds De Jesus in high regard, as does virtually every volleyball player in the Philippines.&quot;For me naman, it&#x27;s also a courtesy na lang to go to the tryouts,&quot; she explained. &quot;Knowing naman Coach Ramil, it will be a good system.&quot;&quot;I&#x27;ve always wanted to be coached by him,&quot; added Lazaro, who touted De Jesus&#x27;s system as &quot;proven and tested to win.&#x27;There is no doubt that Lazaro faces great competition in her position. Macandili and Arado have established themselves as two of the best in the collegiate ranks. Indeed, Macandili was named as Asia&#x27;s second best libero after last year&#x27;s Asian Women&#x27;s Volleyball Championship, and eventually took the injured Lazaro&#x27;s place in the Southeast Asian Games team.Arado, for her part, has blossomed into an ace libero for UE, while Gohing remains as solid as ever for the Cool Smashers. They also got additional competition in the form of Generika libero Shiela Pineda, who also attended Wednesday&#x27;s tryout despite not being on De Jesus&#x27; master list.But Lazaro is not dwelling on the battle for spots in the national team pool, and instead draws inspiration from her fellow liberos.&quot;Ako ang namo-motivate sa kanila – sa lahat ng libero ngayon,&quot; said Lazaro, who won two titles with the Lady Eagles in the UAAP. &quot;Seeing them play 100% all the time, knowing that the position isn&#x27;t very glamorous, is very inspiring,&quot; she added. For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

After making it to the women's national volleyball team in 2017, Denden Lazaro was one of the surprise omissions by new head coach Ramil de Jesus in his master list of players for the 2018 pool.

After making it to the women's national volleyball team in 2017, Denden Lazaro was one of the surprise omissions by new head coach Ramil de Jesus in his master list of players for the 2018 pool.

Volleyball: Denden Lazaro takes a chance in trying out for national team

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Volleyball: Denden Lazaro takes a chance in trying out for national team

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 19, 2018 12:31 PM PHT

Read More:

volleyball

Denden Lazaro

Ramil de Jesus

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