RISING volleyball star Lerrie Francisco will make his international debut in the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships to the Nuvali Sand Courts in Santa Rosa, Laguna starting on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-1 Francisco, who had his baptism on fire in the Beach Volleyball Republic on Tour Sipalay leg last June, will be paired with four-time BVR on Tour champion Rancel Varga when the Alas Pilipinas duo battle some of the best teams in Asia and Oceania in the five-day tournament.
For Francisco, his BVR stint where the 24-year-old faced the country's finest sand court players and the Sipalay leg champions Killian Donovan and Jett Graham of Australia boosted his confidence.
Also eager to deliver for flag and country are Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara, the University of Santo Tomas standouts who ruled the women's division in Sipalay.
The Philippines' other men's pair in the main draw consists of six-time BVR on Tour winner Ranran Abdilla and James Buytrago, two players from the four-man men’s beach volleyball team that bagged the bronze medal in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last year.
BVR on Tour veterans Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda, who reached the Round of 16 of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali in April, will be other other Alas women's pair in the main draw.
