Alas Pilipinas Girls came up short against Venezuela, 19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 11-15, on Wednesday (Manila time) but still punched their ticket to the Round of 16 of the FIVB Volleyball Girls U17 World Championship at Liceo Mixto San Felipe in Chile.
The Philippines battled back from a two-set deficit and pushed world No. 12 Venezuela to the limit before ultimately falling in the deciding set, finishing the pool stage with a 2-3 record.
Despite the loss, Alas advanced to the knockout phase on the strength of victories over world No. 8 Mexico and No. 20 Tunisia. Their other losses came against Peru and China.
(C) FIVB
Their five-set stand against Venezuela also proved crucial, allowing the Philippines to win the tiebreaker over Mexico for the final Round of 16 berth from Pool B.
The Round of 16 appearance marks the best finish by a Philippine volleyball team in a world championship. It surpasses the Bryan Bagunas-led men’s team that placed 19th in last year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines, as well as the Philippine women’s squad that finished 18th in the 1974 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship in Mexico.
Caera Celis led Alas’ fightback against Venezuela with 24 points on 22 attacks and two aces, while Xyz Rayco added 19 points on 17 attacks, one block, and one ace.
Jhaynna Bulandres — who came off the bench after starting in the team’s previous matches — provided a timely spark in the third and fourth sets and finished with eight points on six attacks and two blocks.
The Philippines will battle South Korea on Wednesday in Los Andes for a spot in the quarterfinals.
(C) FIVB
“China is clearly on a different level. But against the rest of the pool, I believed we had a chance, if only we had more time to train and gel. Still, they’ve matured a lot playing matches at this level,” Alas head coach Edwin Leyva said.
Venezuela was led by Colina Lezama Yalesca Lileagne’s 27 points and Amanda Estefania Pacheco Gonzalez’s 15 markers.
