AKLAN – Before fulfilling her Manila dream, Capiz secondary girls volleyball team middle blocker Erich Belo Bula hopes to lead her team first to a dream finish in the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet 2023.
The Pontevedra, Capiz native said she is aiming to leave a mark in her first and final WVRAA Meet stint with the Pontevedra Fire Antz-Capiz team beginning on Thursday at the Laguinbanua Elementary School here.
“If it’s possible, I want us to represent Western Visayas in Palarong Pambansa,” Bula told Panay News. “It was like a payback to Pontevedra Fire Antz team where I was part since elementary.”
“I want also to pay tribute to my trainers Zender Bucayan and Jenalyn Bucayan, who both played a role in my development as a volleyball player and to Pontevedra, Capiz Mayor Henry Tumlos, who took me in as one of his scholars,” she added.
Negros Occidental, represented by Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, was the perennial champions in the WVRAA Meet secondary girls volleyball team prior to the pandemic.
The champion squad in the WVRAA Meet will earn the right to represent Western Visayas in the Palarong Pambansa 2023, which is making a return by July this year in Marikina City.
After her stint with the Pontevedra Fire Antz, the 5-foot-7 Bula is heading to Manila after she was recruited by the San Beda University Lady Red Spikers for their collegiate volleyball team.
“Playing for San Beda in the NCAA was not just my dream, but also a dream of my teammates in Pontevedra Fire Antz, as well as all the Capiznon volleyball players,” Bula said.
“As the first Capiznon player to enter San Beda, I just hope that I will open the door for the entry of more fellow Capiznons not just sa San Beda but also to other schools in Manila,” she added.
Bula was one of the six Western Visayas-based players in San Beda’s roster aside from Bacolod Tay Tung’s Sophie Cagalawan, Amber Lily Biong and Gwen Banas, Cadiz City’s Gina Espina and Bacolodnon Jaschryl Casugod./PN
