Strong Group Athletics barged into the championship match of the 2026 Formosa Women’s International Invitational Tournament with a commanding 25-20, 25-19, 26-24 sweep of Chinese Taipei’s Earthpower EPV on Saturday at Xinzhuang Stadium in Taiwan.
Backed by Farm Fresh and ZUS Coffee, Strong Group finished pool play tied with Earthpower and Supreme Tip Chonburi-E.Tech at 1-1. However, the Filipinas claimed the top spot in the pool with a superior set ratio of 1.33, ahead of Thailand’s Supreme Tip (1.00) and Earthpower (0.75).
Earthpower had stunned Supreme Tip on Friday, 25-18, 27-25, 31-29, 32-30, a result that opened the door for Strong Group’s bid for the gold medal.
“We’re just happy because we just played our game today and we’re not expecting too much; we just played our game well. We just accepted our loss last game because we just want to gain experience and exposure here. Today, we just played the most out of it,” said Strong Group middle blocker Zam Nolasco.
Strong Group will face Japan SV.League club Aleeza Aichi in the gold medal match on Sunday at 6:00 PM.
After dropping the first two sets convincingly, Earthpower finally found its rhythm in the third.
Trailing 18-21, the Taiwanese side rattled off four straight points to seize a 22-21 advantage.
Strong Group responded through star hitter Trisha Tubu, who fired back-to-back kills to restore the lead at 23-22.
The teams traded points to reach a 24-all deadlock before Tubu blasted a sharp crosscourt hit to give Strong Group match point. An Earthpower attack error on the next rally sealed the straight-sets victory.
Tubu led the way with 28 points built on 24 attacks and four blocks, while Nolasco and Ces Molina contributed 12 points apiece.
Jonna Perdido and Riza Nogales also chipped in seven and six points, respectively, for the Filipino squad.
