Jyne Soreno ready to reconnect with La Salle ates at Chery Tiggo

From idolizing them in her high school years to now calling them teammates, Jyne Soreño’s volleyball journey has come full circle.

The 5-foot-9 opposite spiker from Negros Oriental is heading to the professional stage with the Chery Tiggo Crossovers after being selected eighth overall in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Rookie Draft held Sunday at Novotel Manila Araneta City.

Soreño’s selection wasn’t just a leap into the PVL — it was a homecoming of sorts. With Chery Tiggo stacked with legendary former Lady Spikers, including Ara Galang and Aby Maraño, the rookie finds herself reuniting with familiar faces from her formative years under the De La Salle University system.

“Sobrang excited talaga kasi since senior high school pa ako sa La Salle kasama ko na sila sa F2, so ngayon looking forward talaga ako,” said Soreño, her voice lit up with a mix of nostalgia and excitement.

Long before she wore the green and white, Soreño had already committed to the La Salle program in Grade 11, moving to Taft Avenue for her senior high school year. During that period, she trained under Coach Ramil de Jesus with his pro club F2 Logistics — a squad largely made up of former Lady Spikers. For the teenage Soreño, those training sessions were surreal: she wasn’t just a student-athlete anymore — she was sharing the court with her idols.

Now, with her name officially called in the first round of the PVL draft, Soreño is set to write a new chapter alongside the very legends she once watched from the sidelines.

“Nandoon na yung connection eh, nandoon na yung connection namin kahit ilang years or ilang months na hindi na po kami nagsama. Nandoon pa rin po yung bond as La Salle,” she added.

As the first of four Lady Spikers taken in this year’s draft, Soreño carries with her the pride of Taft and the confidence built from years of learning under one of the most storied volleyball programs in the country. But even as she steps into the pros, she remains grounded in gratitude and the relationships that shaped her.

Her arrival couldn’t have come at a better time for Chery Tiggo, a team eager to rebuild and reclaim its place in the PVL spotlight after failing to reach the podium since its 2021 Open Conference championship.