Alas Pilipinas bounced back big, recovering from a third-set collapse to close out China’s Sichuan Wuliangchun in four sets, 25-12, 25-22, 19-25, 25-15 for its first victory in the 2025 VTV Women’s International Cup at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium in Vietnam.
Coming off a 20-25, 21-25, 21-25 loss to home team Vietnam, the Filipinas bounced back swiftly and vented their ire on the Chinese club, forcing a tie at second place in Group A with identical 1-1 records.
Following a statement performance in the opener, Alas found themselves in a tight encounter against Sichuan, holding only a slim 23-22 advantage after Vanie Gandler got rejected at the net late in the second set.
Brooke Van Sickle, however, delivered in the clutch with a back-row attack. Then Gandler atoned for her earlier miscue by hammering down a floating ball to seal the set and give Alas a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Filipinas, however, failed to close out the game after falling to a 10-16 hole, which they never recovered from.
In the third, Van Sickle, Leila Cruz, and MJ Phillips connived in a 5-1 run that turned a 12-10 lead to a 17-11 advantage. Alas went on to lead by as big as 10 points, 23-13, after an emphatic block by Dell Palomata.
Vanie Gandler put on the finishing touches, going for a combination attack before scoring off a block to close the game.
The Philippines will look to end the group phase with back-to-back victories when they take on Australia on Tuesday.
