The Philippine Volleyball Federation said it will use the15th Asian Men’s Senior Volleyball Championship as its own barometer on how the Philippine team will fare in the coming Laos SEA Games this December.

That’s because the Asian tournament slated on September 26 to October 5 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium will have four Southeast Asian rivals – Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar – taking part in the 10-day, 20-country event.

“Aside from giving our volleyball community a taste of what men’s volleyball is like, we also wanted to expose our young but talented national team in competitions like this,” PVF secretary general Otie Camangian said on Tuesday in the PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Avenue.

The new 14-man squad, according to Camangian, has been training since March.

The country has not had a men’s national team since failing to join the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

Camangian said the new team boasts of an average height of 6-foot-2 and most of them are star players of various collegiate leagues.

“They are young and tall and have the potential. All they need are exposures likes this,” Camangian said. “Hosting tournaments as big as this is part our developmental program for the team.”

Defending champion Australia banners the competing squad which is composed of China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India, Maldives, Lebanon, and Iran, to name a few.

The tournament will coincide with the 18th Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) General Assembly on September 26, which will be attended by officials from 63 national associations.