By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alas Pilipinas still found a silver lining despite a 25-13, 25-17, 25-23 loss to Tunisia at the start of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night, Sept. 12.
The Nationals, the lowest-ranked team in this 32-nation tournament at No. 82, showed flashes of brilliance but just couldn’t find enough firepower to overpower their more experienced opponent.
“Hindi maganda yung simula namin pero nung third set, nakita ko yung potential ng men’s volleyball team. Sobrang natuwa ako na maganda yung naging performance nung team, kahit na hindi maganda yung naging outcome, pero for sure babawi kami,” said skipper Bryan Bagunas.
The 27-year-old opposite spiker was referring to the thrilling third-set battle where the Nationals kept the match close, even grabbing early 9-7 and 14-13 leads and crawling back from a 19-21 deficit to tie it at 23-all, only to lose steam in the end.
Bagunas returned with a bang after being sidelined with knee injury for more than a year, exploding for 23 points built on 20 attacks, but the Tunisians, who are ranked No. 42 in the world, was just too much to handle.
Alas Pilipinas’ Italian coach, Angiolino Frigoni, understood the enormity of the challenge his players faced — and how they responded to it. After all, they weren’t just playing on the biggest stage they had ever set foot on, but also in front of 9,245 fans.
“I am very happy with the supporters here. Maybe on one side, they gave us support. On the other side, they gave the players tension,” Frigoni admitted.
“We played with too much emotion in the first set. But soon, we started playing good volleyball. The last set was what I would like to see in this team,” he added.
The Nationals are aiming for the stars, but they are taking it one goal at a time.
“I think we need to play very, very well to win one set against the best teams in the world,” Frigoni said.
The veteran coach added that the tournament was not only an opportunity for the players, but also a chance for Filipino fans to witness high-caliber volleyball action.
“I think that this is a very good opportunity for everybody, not just to support the Philippine national team, but to see the high level of volleyball,” Frigoni said.
“The World Championship just started. (Today), we only have one match. In the future, slowly but surely, you will see the quarterfinals, the semifinals, the finals, and they will have a very big opportunity to see a very high level of volleyball,” he added.
For Bagunas and crew, they are not taking this chance for granted.
“History na ito. First time naming mag-join sa ganitong klaseng tournament kaya ang mission namin ay maipakita sa mga Filipino volleyball fans, lalo na sa world, na ang Philippine men’s volleyball, may ibubuga din sa ganitong klaseng tournament,” he said.
Up next for the Nationals in the group stage is world No. 23 and reigning African champion Egypt on Tuesday, Sept. 16, followed by world No. 13 Iran on Thursday, Sept. 18.
