ILOILO City – Ilongga Zacchea Maganto may still be a diamond in the rough but she will surely be one of the standouts in the national U-17 girls volleyball team that will compete in Uzbekistan this June.
According to national U-17 squad team manager Jose Montalbo, the Maasin, Iloilo native Maganto has a bright future as she already stands 5-foot-11 at 14 years of age.
Maganto was actually a last-minute addition to the Philippine team that will compete in the Asian Girls U-17 Volleyball Championship in Tashkent but was impressive during her by-invite tryout.
“May power sa spike nya. She is very coachable and she is a work in progress,” Montalbo said in an interview with Gametime: A Sports Podcast recently.
“May mga dapat lang tadlongon on her playing style but definitely may pakadtoan si Zack,” he added. “Our coaches will patiently work on her to unleash her full potential.”
Maganto was a member of the Western Visayas elementary girls volleyball team that grabbed the silver medals in the 2019 Palarong Pambansa.
The Ilongga volleybelle’s strong showing in the 2019 Palaro earned her an invite to join the tryout of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses that year.
“She learned how to play the sport during her Grade 3 years with her mother as her first coach. When she was in Grade 5, she was already part of the WV elementary team,” said Gametime founder Rodolfo Go Villaruz.
“She was supposed to transfer to UST that year but because of the COVID-19 pandemic but her parents opted for her to enroll sa Central Philippines University instead,” he added.
Maganto is one of the four Ilonggas in the national U-17 team handled by Jerry Yee aside from Ana Hermosura, Camile Bartolome and Mary Suplico./PN
