Serving up some hometown pride, middle blocker Jaja Santiago is back in the Philippines and trains with the Chery Tiggo Crossovers.
Welcome home, Jaja Santiago!
Coming off her training with Japan’s women’s national volleyball team, the JT Marvelous star finds herself with a warm homecoming with the Chery Tiggo Crossovers.
Chery Tiggo captain Aby Maraño and setter Jasmine Nabor shared the moments on Instagram, with Jaja participating in the team’s workout drills in preparation for their best-of-three battle for bronze against the Petro Gazz Angels.
“Are you ready for tomorrow? I’ve missed u, roomie @alyjasantiago3,” wrote Tyang Aby.
“Gums pa lang mag-nanay na. I missed u, Maja! Welcome back sa pelepens!” jokingly posted Jasmine.
The Chery Tiggo Crossovers also made a post regarding the homecoming of the top spiker and blocker in Japan’s 2023-24 V1 regular round.
“WELCOME BACK, JAJA! Literally and figuratively a huge source of inspiration for the CHERY fam as we battle for the bronze starting tomorrow. We missed you and we thank you for being with us today!#EngineStartCHERY #CHERYAarangkadaNa #CHERYonTOP,” they posted.
Back in 2021, the decorated middle blocker steered the Chery Tiggo’s historic championship, halting the Creamline Cool Smashers’ dynasty in a nail-biting five-setter in the PVL Open Conference. She was hailed both as the MVP and the Finals MVP.
Will Jaja be suiting up for the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in their bronze medal tilt against the Petro Gazz Angels starting this Thursday?
That remains unclear, but technically she is eligible to do so since Chery Tiggo included the decorated middle blocker in the roster at the start of the conference.
[ALSO READ: PVL: Jia de Guzman ruled out for Creamline, Jaja Santiago remains eligible for Chery Tiggo in All-Filipino Conference]
The battle for third will begin this Thursday, May 9, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at 4 p.m. It will be aired on One Sports, One Sports+, and the Pilipinas Live app.