Alas Pilipinas out of semis chase after loss to Chinese Taipei
Alas Pilipinas in action during a game vs Chinese Taipei in the 2026 AVC Women’s Cup in Candon City. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — Alas Pilipinas bombed out of semifinal contention after getting ousted by Chinese Taipei, 16-25, 14-25, 10-25, in the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Cup on Thursday at Candon City Arena.
The new-look Alas Pilipinas missed the AVC semifinals for the first time after reaching the podium in the past two years.
The Filipino Spikers were swept by the Taiwanese in lopsided fashion, ending the pool stage with a 2-3 record.
No one scored in double figures for Alas, with Alyssa Solomon leading the way with six points off the bench. The next best scorers were Niña Ytang and Ces Molina, who had three each.
Captain Alyssa Valdez was limited to just two points — the same production as Thea Gagate and Ara Galang.
The Philippines will be relegated to the classification stage, which starts Saturday.
“A big factor here was our preparation. I think we still need more time together. But we have to accept that this is part of the process and that results like this can happen,” said Alas Pilipinas interim coach Shaq Delos Santos in Filipino.
“We’re not losing hope. Our goal is still to keep improving and help elevate our volleyball even further. That remains our focus moving forward.”
Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, remained unbeaten in four games in Pool A to seal a semis berth, beating the Philippines after losing the first two editions.
Over the past two years, the Philippines reached at least the semifinals of the AVC tournament. The Alas team, led by Jia De Guzman and Angel Canino, swept Chinese Taipei in 2024 to complete a perfect pool stage campaign and won the bronze medal at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Last year, the same core turned to Eya Laure, avoiding a five-set meltdown to survive Chinese Taipei in the semifinal and ended up with a silver medal.
Setter Liao Yi-Jen, who played in the Premier Volleyball League four years ago with her club KingWhale Taipei with her coach Teng Yen-Min, led the onslaught of the Taiwanese to advance to the Women’s Cup semis for the second straight year.
Hsu Wan-Yun led all scorers with 14 points, while Chang Yi-Chi contributed 13. Chen Ciao-En starred at the net with 12 points built on six blocks, four attacks and two aces, while Tsai Yu-Chun chipped in nine points.
Chinese Taipei goes for Pool A sweep against South Korea on Friday at 9 p.m.
