After a winless first-leg campaign that left them searching for answers, Alas Women roared back when it mattered most, capturing the silver medal after dispatching Indonesia in a tense finish, 25-13, 23-25, 25-19, 33-31, in the second leg of the 2026 SEA V Cup on Sunday at Chiang Mai Stadium in Thailand.
The Philippines had to withstand one final furious charge from Indonesia in the fourth set, but Alyssa Solomon, Bella Belen, Eya Laure, and Fifi Sharma rose to the occasion with clutch plays down the stretch to deliver the country’s first-ever silver medal in the regional tournament.
Alas held a slim three-point lead early in the fourth frame before Indonesia regained its composure and fought back to reach set point, 24-22, courtesy of an Arsela Nuari Purnama off-the-block hit.
But just when Indonesia appeared poised to steal the set, Belen came to the rescue for the Filipinas, drilling a wide-open attack to keep their hopes alive before Sharma delivered a thunderous block on Ersandrina Devega to force deuce at 24-all.
Medi Yoku answered with a crafty push to put Indonesia back at set point, but Sharma’s quick attack and Laure’s blistering cross-court hit turned the tables, putting Alas at match point, 26-25.
Devega answered with a cross-court hit of her own to tie the game at 26-all, but Laure powered through once again to put the Philippines a point away from securing the win.
From there, Alas dug deep to survive four more set points from Indonesia, setting the stage for a dramatic finish as the Filipinas finally pulled through to seal the hard-fought victory.
Solomon kept the Filipinas alive with a blistering cross-court attack to tie the game at 31-all before Sharma rose for a crucial block on Devega. The Indonesian hitter then miscalculated her next attack and sent the ball out, finally handing the Philippines the silver medal in a thrilling finish.
“We were just saying that nothing to expect. So I just told everybody to focus on ourselves and not focus on the opponent’s side because what we can control is only on our side. And so, they did it,” said Alas Women head coach Taka Minowa, who guided the team in his first tournament at the helm.
“We just trained for 15 days and came to Vietnam and Thailand [legs]. For sure, we’re just starting the program, and we have a lot of opportunities, a lot of space to improve [after] this game,” he added.
Solomon delivered a game-high 19 points, all from attacks, in the Philippines’ revenge win over Indonesia, which came after their four-set defeat, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16, in the opening leg that snapped their four-year bronze medal streak last Sunday, August 2.
Belen finished with a double-double of 17 points and 15 excellent digs, while Laure also chipped in 17 markers on 14 attacks and three blocks, along with eight excellent digs.
Dell Palomata added nine points, while Justine Jazareno and Dawn Catindig anchored the floor defense with 15 and 14 excellent digs, respectively.
The Philippines looked every bit like a team on a mission from the opening whistle, setting the tone early with crisp attacks and relentless pressure against Indonesia.
After trailing 11-10 early in the first frame, Alas flipped the script in emphatic fashion, ripping off 12 unanswered points to storm ahead, 22-11, before capitalizing on a string of Indonesian errors to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead.
Indonesia mounted a furious comeback in the second frame to even the score, but the Philippines quickly regained control in the third, turning a 9-all deadlock into a 15-10 lead midway through the set, anchored by Palomata’s timely blocks at the net.
Alas Pilipinas used that cushion to keep Indonesia at bay the rest of the way, weathering every late push to close out the set and move one step closer to a historic silver medal finish.
Purnama paced Indonesia with 19 points and nine excellent digs, while Yoku chipped in a two-way showing of 18 points and 17 excellent digs.
