Alas Pilipinas Boys wrapped up their campaign with the country’s best-ever 10th-place finish in the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship after falling to Indonesia, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-14, in the ninth-place classification match on Saturday night at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
Despite missing out on ninth place, the Filipinos still eclipsed the country’s previous best finish of 11th, which they achieved in the 2024 edition in Bahrain.
“I’m still proud of what we showed tonight. We improved from our previous 11th-place finish in Bahrain,” team captain Howard Guerra said. “We were aiming for No. 9, but this 10th-place finish is still proof that our national team is improving.”
The Philippines placed third in Pool B with a 1-2 record, defeating Bahrain while absorbing losses to India and eventual champion Iran.
The Alas Boys came close to securing a historic quarterfinal berth after pushing India to five sets before bowing out, 25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 4-15, in the group stage.
“We only had a month and a half to prepare, and I’m very proud of what we showed throughout the tournament,” head coach Oliver Balse said. “We almost had it against India. Our program is still new, but I have great faith that this team will continue to improve.”
The Filipinos responded with back-to-back classification victories over Australia and Hong Kong, China before closing out their campaign with the loss to Indonesia.
Al-Raquib Dais and Terrence Marticion led the Philippines with 12 points each, while Muhamad Rizqi Maulana exploded for 26 points to spearhead Indonesia’s victory.
In the bronze medal match, Chinese Taipei rallied past China, 20-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-21, 25-13.
