Alas Pilipinas hopes to harness deep bench to crack AVC Cup final

SCHEDULE: Alas Pilipinas at AVC Challenge Cup 2024 semifinals

Alas Pilipinas libero Dawn Macandili-Catindig during an AVC Challenge CUp 2024 game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

A little Faith turned Alas Pilipinas into an unpredictable force entering the semifinals of the AVC Challenge Cup 2024.

The national squad battles Kazakhstan on Tuesday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum with a championship berth at stake and will ride into that duel confident that it has a lot of weapons to counter a taller and more powerful opponent.

“The bench is pretty deep. Everyone is ready to play and deliver, even Julia Coronel as a setter. It’s good for us because at least we’re a bit more unpredictable against our opponents,” ace playmaker Jia De Guzman told reporters on Sunday after dominating Chinese Taipei, 25-13, 25-21, 25-18, to complete a four-game sweep of Pool A.

READ: Alas Pilipinas can win AVC Challenge Cup title says Jaja Santiago

Already the first Philippine volleyball team to enter the AVC semifinals since joining the confederation’s tournaments in 1961, Alas Pilipinas gave De Guzman a different set of starters to work with against the Taiwanese.

Faith Nisperos filled in for Angel Canino and delivered eight points to help out Eya Laure and Vanie Gandler in providing the firepower against the Taiwanese, proving that coach Jorge de Brito has a lot to work with if he hopes to pull of an upset against the Kazahks.

“I want to maximize every chance I can get and get all the experience I can get, and show my skills every chance I can get,” the young wing spiker said after subbing for Canino, the team’s leading scorer.

“I’m really grateful to get a chance and also my other teammates who played today,” she added.

Nisperos and the team are unfazed by the test that now lies before them.

“We have to accept every challenge and we’re going to face Kazakhstan [in the semis]. “We will make whatever effort we can do and show our teamwork. That would be our mindset [on Tuesday],” the former Ateneo ace and current Akari standout said.

“We have a good mix of young players and veterans. It’s a good blend of fire, energy and composure,” De Guzman said. “We hope to maintain this until the end and learn from our past games because the elimination round was a good training ground for us. Hopefully, we can get better results going into the next round.”

“Kazakhstan is a very strong team, very tall also. We experienced playing taller and stronger teams in our bracket, and we will prepare with coach Jorge on our training tomorrow,” she added.

The milestone the team completed is something the nationals can rest on. But they are ready for more “What we went through wasn’t easy and we know it won’t be easier in the future because the semifinals is a different level. We’re just going in with a positive mindset,” De Guzman said. INQ