Thursday, May 30, 2024

Alas Pilipinas Wins Bronze at the AVC Challenge Cup!

Congratulations to the Alas Pilipinas Women's Volleyball team for winning the bronze medal at the AVC Challenge Cup! This is the highest placement that a Philippine team has ever achieved in this event that started in 2022. The previous best that the Philippines achieved in the women's tournament was 7th so this jump to third place is pretty monumental!

10 countries compete in the AVC Challenge Cup: Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, and Uzbekistan. These teams are split into two pools, with the top 2 teams in each pool advancing to the semifinals. I have to say that it was quite fortunate for the Philippines that the two highest ranked teams - Vietnam and Kazakhstan - were both in pool B and the Philippines was in pool A giving us a slightly better chance to move forward. Still, the big challenge facing the Alas Pilipinas women was that the team was only assembled a couple of weeks before and they barely had practices as a complete team.

However, it turned out to be a magical mix of players because despite their lack of matchplay as a team, they gelled together very quickly and their chemistry was undeniable. Jia De Guzman, who is arguably - or maybe even provably? - the best setter in Philippine women's volleyball, was a tremendously good team captain, not only because of her leadership, maturity, and experience but also because the rest of the players respected her very highly. Sisi Rondina, who may very well be the the shortest spiker in the entire tournament, was also a very welcome addition to the team as she has a lot of international experience and has won multiple medals in international beach volleyball in the past. Her never-say-die attitude is inspirational to watch and she has a courage and ferocity that is practically unmatched in local volleyball.

As a result of this magnificent team chemistry, the Philippines topped Pool A without a single loss, taking them to the semifinals! There, they ran into a very formidable Kazakhstan team who used their massive height advantage to defeat the Philippines in straight sets. This means that the final match of the Alas ladies would be a battle for third. In the end, the Philippines dominated Australia, 25-23, 25-15, 25-7 in a very convincing three-set win to claim the bronze. Amazing! We now have our first AVC Challenge Cup medal and our best finish in this tournament!

As if this wasn't enough, two of our Alas Pilipinas players won individual awards. Team Captain Jia De Guzman was awarded best setter. Many people believed she could win this award and she did! The big revelation to me and possibly the entire tournament, however, was Angel Canino who was also awarded best opposite spiker. Why was this a very pleasant surprise and an incredible achievement? First, opposite spiker is not Angel's natural position; she is normally an open spiker. The lack of a natural opposite spiker in the team meant that the coaching staff moved Angel to this position. Second, despite not having as much international experience as her teammates, Angel was consistently the top scorer of Alas Pilipinas. This Best Opposite Spiker award means that in her first stint as part of the National Team (that isn't under-23), Angel won a bronze medal and an individual award. Sensational! Congratulations Alas Pilipinas! Thank you for bringing pride and joy to the country, despite all the odds!
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