Alas Pilipinas, a team that had little time to prepare, nabbed their first-ever semifinals stint in the AVC Challenge Cup for Women.
Despite shuffling their starters, the Philippine women’s national volleyball team delivered a strong performance against Iran.
Alas took a dominant win, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15, moving a victory away from sweeping Pool A on a rainy Saturday at the jam-packed Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The Philippines is already assured of its best finish in the Challenge Cup’s three-tournament history, having placed seventh last year and not participating in its maiden edition.
This is also the Nationals’ first semifinals appearance in any continental tournament. They placed fourth during the 1962 and 1966 Asian Games, but both were via a round-robin format.
“All these players here are really good. The question you have day by day is who will you play,” said Alas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito.
The coaching staff replaced Eya Laure, Thea Gagate, and Dawn Catindig in the starting lineup with Vanie Gandler, Cherry Nunag, and Jen Nierva, respectively.
That did not disrupt the Philippines’ harmony in its past two games as they restrained Iran and blew them out in all three sets.
“To be honest, with the preparation we had, we didn’t really put much expectation, but I always knew that this team would fight, so I’m not surprised that every game, everyone poured their hearts out,” said Gandler, who was a service specialist against Australia and India but made nine points today.
Faith Nisperos, who did not play in the first two matches, entered and provided the final two points of the match – a down-the-line hit and a crosscourt kill – for the win in one hour and 22 minutes, to the delight of the home crowd.
Alas (3-0) will go for the group sweep tomorrow against Chinese Taipei, the youngest team in the tournament, at 7:00 PM.
Angel Canino, for the third consecutive game, led the Nationals in scoring with 16 points on 11 attacks, three aces, and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Sisi Rondina added 12 points of her own.
Meanwhile, Iran, which fell to 1-2, looks to rebound and stay in the hunt for a semifinals ticket tomorrow when it battles Australia at 4:00 PM.
Aytak Salamat paced the Iranians with 10 points, while Elaheh Poorsaleh scored seven points.
The rest of the team scored four points or fewer.
