Despite playing just their second game in the tournament, Jia De Guzman already observed vast improvements from Alas Pilipinas Women in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup.
De Guzman remarked that the team’s in-game adjustments continued to flourish, as evidenced by their significant four-set victory over India in Pool A on Friday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, with scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-17, and 25-18.
“What I’m really proud of is my team because everyone was really ready to step up and sobrang bilis naming naka-adjust in-game,” said De Guzman after the victory.
“India was very challenging, a little bit more challenging than Australia kasi na-scout na nila kami based on our game yesterday. I’m just really proud of this team,” she added.
In their opening game against Australia, the Philippines showcased their ability to come back from behind after losing a slim lead late in the opening set, eventually winning the next three sets to secure their first victory.
Alas Pilipinas faced a similar challenge against India, racing to a 10-3 lead to open the first set before squandering a 21-20 advantage late, which gave the visiting team a 1-0 set lead.
The Filipinas then proved once again that they could withstand pressure as they dominated the next three sets to complete the victory, putting them at the top of Pool A with a clean 2-0 record.
“I think in the first set we made a lot of unforced errors kasi nakadikit naman kami sa kanila in terms of attacks, in terms of blocks,” said De Guzman, who is an eight-time PVL Best Setter.
“But then yun yung tina-try din naming i-work on now to lessen our errors and also work on the in-game adjustments para agad agad kaming makabawi,” she added.
The former Ateneo star emphasized that the team focused on in-game adjustments, considering they had not faced these squads in the past.
“Paulit ulit ako ng sasabihin pero today kasi our main focus talaga was in-game adjustments,” said De Guzman.
“We’re going up against teams na hindi pa namin nakakalaban before, we’ve only seen them in videos, so iba pa rin yung nagvi-viewing kayo, iba pa rin yung nakakalaban niyo sila sa court because the other teams are also adjusting based on how we’re playing so thankfully, our team naman nakaka-adjust kaagad.”
