Alas Pilipinas men’s team still performs worthy of praise

For pushing two formidable foes to the limit, the Alas Pilipinas men’s teamcertainly has something to celebrate. —AVC PHOTO

The Alas Pilipinas men’s team knew the steep trek that it had to overcome in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenge Cup, having been pooled with 2022 Asian Games silver medal winner China and another powerhouse in Bahrain.

With that being said, the Filipinos failed to survive pool play, but not after giving both countries a scare by laying it all on the line.

And national team coach Sergio Veloso is just proud at seeing how this hastily assembled version of a Philippine volleyball team played.

“The score is not the same when you look, ‘oh, 3-0,’ but the fight is good,” Veloso said after the loss to the Chinese. “This is important because I told my players that sometimes we win. But every time you need to learn.”

The Filipinos suffered a 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 defeat at the hands of the Chinese at Isa Sport City Hall in Manama, Bahrain, before being eliminated by the hosts Tuesday midnight (Manila time).With a 25-18, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Alas, Bahrain, the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup runner-up, advanced to the semifinals even before facing China on Wednesday midnight.

No medal, just pride

This campaign is in stark contrast to what the women’s Alas Pilipinas team gutted out back home less than two weeks ago, when it pocketed a first-ever AVC bronze medal after sweeping pool play and then beating Australia in the battle for third.

But the efforts were the same, as the tournament website described the Chinese to have “struggled to beat the Philippines,” a huge consolation considering the lofty standing of China.

Bahrain overwhelmed Alas in every facet of the game using its sharp attacks and aces, which the Filipinos couldn’t handle, and a strong net defense to shut out any attempts by the Filipinos, who still had plenty of support from OFWs in that part of the middle east.

But despite the setbacks, Veloso is still satisfied with how the team played.

“We played two very strong games. Both opponents are gold medal candidates. And our team played courageously using the system implemented despite only a few days of training to prepare for this [tournament],” Veloso told the Inquirer through chat.

Jau Umandal led Alas in both outings after finishing with 10 and nine points, respectively, but his efforts obviously weren’t enough.

National University rookie Leo Ordiales showed potential against China, matching Umandal’s 10 points. But he couldn’t keep it up opposite Bahrain.

Alas Pilipinas entered the tournament as the world No. 57 but dropped to No. 61 after those losses. It could only hope to fare better in its remaining games in the classification round.“We will have two more games and our expectation is to play even better and [get] our first victory in the championship,” he added.

Unlike their women counterparts who recorded a historic bronze medal finish in the recent AVC Challenge Cup here, the best that the Filipino men could hope for is a ninth place finish against either Pool C’s Qatar or young Indonesia. INQ