CANDON, Ilocos Sur — Alas Pilipinas salvaged a fifth-place finish in the first leg of the 2026 SEA Men’s V Cup after sweeping Myanmar, 25-21, 28-26, 25-22, on Saturday at the Candon City Arena here.
After suffering losses to Cambodia and Indonesia in pool play, the Philippines finally broke through with its first and only victory of the opening leg. The team overcame a sluggish start through a spirited comeback in the opening set.
The Nationals trailed, 11-17, after a flat start before the second unit of Van Book, Lloyd Josafat, Louie Ramirez, Al-Bukharie Sali, and Greg Ancheta sparked a decisive 14-4 run to steal the first set, 25-21.
The comeback shifted the momentum in the Philippines’ favor, allowing Alas Pilipinas to complete the straight-set victory and secure fifth place in the regional tournament hosted by Candon City Mayor Eric Singson with the support of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
“I am proud of the improvement of the players during the competition. Today was more difficult, but it was expected, because in this match the players had something to lose,” said Alas Pilipinas head coach Angiolino Frigoni.
“In the other match, they didn’t have anything to lose. They were just playing more freely. And today, we start in a very bad way. They were very tense, very afraid to make mistakes,” he went on.
“But after that, we got by, slowly by slowly, with the substitution, with the players that get better on the team, we won, that’s it.”
Ramirez came off the bench to lead the Philippines with 14 points built on 11-of-17 attacking, along with three blocks.
Joshua Magalaman, the team’s leading scorer during pool play, added 12 points on eight attacks, three blocks, and an ace, while Axel Van Book contributed nine points off the bench.
Jude Garcia — whom Frigoni shifted to the opposite position after opening the tournament as an outside hitter — chipped in eight points, as Alas Pilipinas committed a tournament-low 19 errors.
The tournament resumes with its second leg from July 22 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Kyaw Aung Myo paced Myanmar with 16 points, while Aung Ye Lin added 12.
