BANGKOK. — Alas Pilipinas aims for a berth in the gold medal match when it takes on Vietnam in the crossover semifinal of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games women’s volleyball event on Sunday at the Indoor Stadium Huamark here.
Absent in the championship round for almost three decades and reeling from a 20-year medal drought, the Filipinas are determined to flip the script when they march back into action at 1:30 p.m. (Manila time).
Alas advanced to a fifth straight semis stint after beating Singapore, 25-13, 25-8, 25-18, last Friday to end the pool play with a 1-1 win-loss record in Group A.
The squad is expected to be in full strength with open spiker Eya Laure set to make her first appearance in the competition after skipping Alas’ first two games due to a minor abdominal strain sustained during training.
“Hopefully, pagdating ng semis, makatulong na ako. Actually, sobrang gustong-gusto kong makatulong,” said Laure, who is on her second appearance in the biennial meet since her debut in the 2019 Manila edition.
“Kaya puro bulong lang ‘yung nagagawa ko ngayon sa mga outside hitters since sila ‘yung mga kapwestuhan ko. But yeah, hopefully, naman everyone’s in line sa kung ano ang plano namin talaga sa team,” she added.
Young wingers Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Shaina Nitura and Angel Canino have been holding the line in Laure’s absence, showcasing what they can bring to the table for the Brazilian Jorge Souza De Brito-coached squad.
Team captain Jia De Guzman believes the quick turnaround after absorbing a straight-sets defeat at the hands of defending 14-time champion Thailand has given Alas the momentum to give the runner-up of the last three stagings of the event a run for its money.
“We were able to get looser, get more comfortable coming into the game (against Singapore) and ‘yun lang naman ‘yung hinahanap namin na makuha ulit namin ‘yung groove namin as Alas. Kasi since we had very little preparation, ito ‘yung way namin of getting to the rhythm again of being Alas Pilipinas. So, we’ll be riding into the next round naman with this momentum,” De Guzman said.
The Philippines has yet to reach the finals since bagging a silver medal in the 1997 Jakarta edition. The squad’s last podium finish was during the 2005 Manila edition.
Vietnam swept the group stage without dropping a single set after rolling past Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Vietnamese have defeated Alas in their last five SEA Games meetings, since the Philippines’ return to the competition in 2015.
Thailand clashes with Indonesia in the other semifinal pairing.
The battle for the bronze and gold medals will be on Monday.
