The Philippines’ youth women’s volleyball team, Alas Pilipinas, etched their names in history on Friday with a landmark 3-0 victory over China on Thursday, at the 3rd Asian Youth Games, held at Isa City Hall C in Manama, Bahrain.
The Pinays overwhelmed the Chinese squad 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 in just an hour and 15 minutes, handing China a rare defeat on the international stage. Xinyi Chen and Xu Ruilin, China’s main scorers, were limited to only seven points each.
Composed mostly of National University-Nazareth School standouts and coached by Karl Dimaculangan, the Philippines set the tone early. The team went on a blistering 5-0 run, spearheaded by Rhose Almendralejo’s left-wing attacks and Ysabella Patricia Cruz’s steady play.
The early surge left China trailing 1-7, a deficit that proved insurmountable throughout the match.
Filipino fans in Bahrain and across the Middle East cheered the historic win.
Almendralejo finished with 23 points on 19 attacks, three service aces, and a block.
The 15-year-old Bacolod City native credited the win to adjustments following their straight-sets loss to Thailand earlier in the week.
“Gustong-gusto po naming bumawi sa talo namin sa Thailand the other day, kaya binago po namin ang game plan,” Almendralejo said.
Outside hitter Denesse Daylisan also celebrated the breakthrough victory, though she noted the result was not entirely unexpected.
“Actually, our goal here is to win. 2 weeks lang kami nag-prepare for this, but we made sure kaya naming sumabay. And it showed when we first beat Korea nuong opener namin, then ito na nga. A win over China,” Daylisan said.
“Nakakalaban na po namin sila sa abroad yung iba sa kanila. Kaya hindi po sila yung sasabihin mo na push over team. Developmental po talaga yan, well, gaya ng team namin.”
Daylisan credited the Philippine National Volleyball Federation for providing valuable development opportunities.
“Maganda po yung program sa amin and yun po may mga exposure rin kami like this one. Pero sana mas marami pang exposure abroad para mas marami pa po kaming matutunan,” she said.
PNVF President Ramon “Tats” Suzara hailed the historic win as a milestone for Philippine volleyball.
“Nakaka-inspire, so maraming Pilipino ang magsasabi na kaya palang talunin ang China. Nanalo din tayo sa Korea. I think this will inspire more players, boys or girls, to play more volleyball,” Suzara said.
“This is the start of our underage development, under-18. Next week, we will send an under-16 girls volleyball team to Jordan for the Asian under-16 championships. I think we need to develop more young athletes nationwide and produce more Alas players in the future,” he added.
“Who wouldn’t be happy? This is a win against China. This is a historic win — we never win against China, whether youth, junior, or senior national team. The Asian Youth Games is the same playing field; most of these are the same players who will comprise the seniors.”
Looking ahead, Suzara is optimistic that the Pinays can advance further.
“I hope we move to the next round and hopefully end up with a volleyball medal here at the Asian Youth Games. Kung magpapatuloy to we can be world-class. Just look at the last World Championships, we already made it to the top 19,” he said.
The Philippines will face Hong Kong on Friday at 9:30 PM (Manila time), hoping to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Hong Kong comes off a 1-3 loss to China, following a straight-sets victory over Jordan in their opener.
