Playing with freedom and confidence, Alas Pilipinas Women shrugged off the weight of expectations and delivered a commanding performance against Singapore to secure the final ticket to the semifinals of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Friday.
The Philippines rediscovered its form after a tough opening loss to defending champion Thailand, dominating the Singaporeans in straight sets, 25-13, 25-8, 25-18, and finishing second in Pool B with a 1-1 record.
Team captain Jia De Guzman said the performance against Singapore was exactly what the team aimed for at the start of the tournament, and they plan to carry this momentum into their semifinal clash against Pool B top seed Vietnam on Sunday.
“We were able to get more loose, get more comfortable coming into the game today. And ‘yun lang naman ‘yung hinahanap namin eh, na makuha ulit namin ‘yung groove namin as Alas,” De Guzman said.
“Kasi since we had very little preparation, ito ‘yung way namin of getting to the rhythm again of being Alas Pilipinas so we’ll be riding into the next round naman with this momentum,” she added.
The Philippines is now just one win away from returning to the podium for the first time since 2005, when the Nationals captured bronze on home soil.
Now in a position to end a 20-year medal drought, the eight-time PVL Best Setter said what’s important for the squad is to block out outside noise and focus on executing their game plan on the court.
“Well, every time I step onto the court with the national team, I’m always motivated kasi the only expectations that matter to us really are the ones inside the team. Family and supporters outside, people outside of our team, we will take the love and support,” said De Guzman.
“But the expectations, we keep it inside the team,” she continued.
“So we do our best to stay grounded and just to stick to the system and trust Coach Jorge’s (De Brito) system and stay in the process. ‘Yun ‘yung pinakamindset talaga namin ngayon.”
But first and foremost, the top priority for De Guzman and her teammates is to rest and recover, especially after back-to-back games in the tournament.
“We played two back-to-back games so we have to first and foremost recover, and then tomorrow we’ll have time to scout and train and prepare for kung sino ‘man ‘yung mananalo today.”
