By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine women’s volleyball team knew it has to do something special on the country’s Independence Day. And it did.
Playing with passion and fire, the Nationals did the unthinkable as Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, and Angel Canino joined forced to help power Alas Pilipinas to a stunning 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 win over the erstwhile unbeaten Kazakhstan and into the semis of the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup at the Dong Anh Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam Thursday, June 12.
Their confidence further boosted as the country commemorated the declaration of its independence from Spain early in the day, the troika of Belen, picked No. 1 by Capital1 in the recent PVL Rookie Draft, Solomon, and Canino, defied tall odds after exhibiting superb performances on both ends, especially in the third frame where they denied Kazakh bets’ comeback attempt.
The upset victory put the world No. 47 Nationals on top of Pool B standings with 14 points on a 4-1 slate ahead of No. 30 Kazakhstan by one point despite holding the same record.
The two countries will now advance to the semis, where the Philippines may face Chinese Taipei or a possibility to tangle with the defending titlist Vietnam if it gets a heavy beating from Australia later today.
On the other hand, Iran, regardless of its results against Mongolia, will be relegated to the 5th-8th place match.
Before entering into its another medal bid, the Philippines opened its campaign in a rousing fashion after sweeping Mongolia, 25-18, 25-16, 25-14, then it survived Indonesia in four sets (22–25, 25–23, 25–13, 28–26).
The Philippines, however, was cold as ice in its game against Iran and suffered a 25–16, 21–25, 26–24, 23–25, 13–15 defeat.
But the Nationals bounced back with a 25–17, 25–21, 25–18 demolition of New Zealand.
Rivals in collegiate ranks and now making their mark on the international stage, Belen and Canino finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Solomon, for her part, registered 14 points off 11 kills, one block and two aces. Fifi Sharma and Dell Palomata added five apiece, while Jia De Guzman went excellent anew with her playmaking chores.
Reeling from the absence of their key arsenal Sana Anarkulova, Tatyana Nikitina paced the Kazakhs with 12 points.
