Alas Pilipinas Men and Japan’s Osaka Bluteon.–PNVF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The men’s volleyball team held their heads high despite a straight-set loss against Japan S V.League club Osaka Bluteon on day one of the Alas Pilipinas Invitationals at the PhilSports Arena.
Osaka Bluteon is composed of players from the fan-favorite Japanese men’s volleyball team 2024 Paris Olympic roster such as hard-hitting opposite Yuji Nishida, libero Tomohiro Yamamoto, middle blocker Akihiro Yamauchi and outside hitter Shoma Tomita. The team also has the services of Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Jaeschke and Cuban player Miguel Lopez Castro.
In the minds of the Alas Pilipinas players, they were playing against not only world-class volleyball players but their idols as well.
READ: Alas Pilipinas Men fall to Yuji Nishida-led Osaka
“From the first moment that I saw [Nishida] on court, I was starstruck seeing him. Even though we were on opposing sides, whenever he was shown on the monitor screen, I would still cheer for him,” the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player of UAAP Season 85 Josh Ybañez jokingly said to Inquirer following a 29-27, 25-23, 25-12 loss on Saturday.
Ybañez even owns a Nishida jersey that he is seen wearing in a TikTok video with fellow Alas Pilipinas player Vince Lorenzo.
Yet, the University of Santo Tomas player said that he was not surprised with the good performance of Alas Pilipinas with one of Japan’s top club teams.
“Actually, I expected this kind of result where our team will really fight,” Ybañez said. “I have a huge trust in the team, especially with the coaches and my teammates who are inside the court.”
Ybañez said that they just needed to further improve on their lapses from the match.
For setter EJ Casaña, he saw the game as a challenge to face the players that they have been watching play on the Olympic stage.
“We were very excited when we found out that we were going to play against them,” Casaña said.
READ: Japan teams ready to test Alas Pilipinas’ mettle
The Invitationals is the first time that the national team was able to face select players from Japan’s national team. Other past friendly matches against the Japan team have been canceled due to COVID-19 health protocols in 2022 and “unforeseen circumstances” in June 2024.
Casaña said that this experience will help them in their preparations for the 2025 FIVB World Championship. As the solo host, Alas Pilipinas automatically qualified for the tournament where they will face the top volleyball teams from 32 countries in the world.
“This is also for the sake of Philippine volleyball so that we can improve because we all know that we are still far from being ready for next year’s World Championship,” Casaña added.
Libero Yamamoto recognized the efforts of Alas Pilipinas.
“They are a great team,” the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Best Libero said through a translator. “We had some tough moments [in the match] as well but we’re very grateful to be able to play with everyone right here.”
From fanboys to recognized competitors, Alas Pilipinas managed to hold their own against their favorite players which is a feat that they will surely cherish.