CANDON CITY – After days of anticipation, Alyssa Solomon officially made the final cut as Alas Pilipinas opens its campaign in the 2026 AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup against Uzbekistan on Saturday at the Candon City Arena here.
After initially declining a national team call-up, Solomon rejoined the Alas Pilipinas program following her withdrawal from the 2026 Premier Volleyball League Draft, keeping her options open for a potential overseas stint. The 6-foot-1 opposite spiker then traveled to Candon and linked up with the squad just days before the start of the continental tournament.
Solomon and ZUS Coffee middle blocker Thea Gagate are the lone holdovers from the Alas Pilipinas team that competed in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, where the Filipinas finished fourth after falling to Vietnam in the bronze medal match.
As expected, Creamline star Alyssa Valdez was also included in the roster and is set to form a highly anticipated on-court partnership with former collegiate rival Ara Galang of Farm Fresh.
(C) PVL Images
Valdez and Galang will be joined in the outside hitter rotation by Creamline’s Tots Carlos and Farm Fresh standouts Ces Molina and Royse Tubino.
At the opposite spiker position, Solomon will team up with ZUS Coffee veteran Jovelyn Gonzaga. Gagate, meanwhile, will anchor the middle alongside Niña Ytang, who also withdrew from the PVL Draft, and Far Eastern University’s Cla Loresco.
Creamline playmaker Kyle Negrito and Choco Mucho’s third overall draft pick Tin Ubaldo will share setting duties, while Kyla Atienza of Creamline and Alyssa Eroa of ZUS Coffee will serve as the team’s liberos.
Notably absent from the final roster are Farm Fresh’s Trisha Tubu and Far Eastern University’s Jaz Ellarina. Also missing the cut were Letran standouts Lara Mae Silva and Natalie Estreller, who had earlier withdrawn from the PVL Draft to focus on their national team commitments.
Alas Pilipinas, which settled for the silver medal in the previous edition of the tournament, is bracketed in Pool B and will begin its campaign against Uzbekistan at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
