Alas Pilipinas Boys swept Australia, 25-20, 30-28, 25-20, in the classification round of the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship on Thursday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium.
The victory kept the Philippines on track for its best-ever finish in the tournament, surpassing its 11th-place result in the 2024 edition in Bahrain and moving within one win of securing ninth place.
Alas had to dig deep throughout the match, particularly in a tightly contested second set that featured six deadlocks as Al-Raquib Dais traded attacks with Australia’s Eddie Kerwin.
After Alex Liang committed a costly service error, Dais delivered a powerful crosscourt spike to seal the extended set, 30-28, and give the Filipinos a commanding two-set advantage.
The Philippines carried that momentum into the third set, capitalizing on Australia’s miscues as Dais continued to lead the offense en route to a 25-20 victory and a straight-set sweep.
Australia surrendered 25 points on unforced errors, while the Philippines—backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission—committed just 14.
The 16-year-old Dais starred with 25 points on 21 attacks, three blocks, and one ace, while Terrence Marticion added 11 markers.
“Because we are now out of the Top 8 teams, our goal is to take the best ninth-place finish. That’s our new motivation. We need to continue working hard and raise the rankings,” said head coach Oliver Balse.
“We know that Australia is tall, so we relied on our plays to make sure that we got this win,” he added.
Australia was led by Eddie Kerwin with 12 points, while Alex Liang chipped in 11, but their efforts were not enough to prevent the loss.
The Philippines will next face either Kazakhstan or Hong Kong in the 9th-12th classification semifinals, with a chance to move one step closer to a historic ninth-place finish.
