By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alas Pilipinas showed its ferocity anew and crushed Iran, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15, to remain unscathed while also securing a semifinal berth in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women Saturday night, May 25, at the jam packed Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Nationals dictated the tempo for most parts of the match, overcoming the persistent assaults of their taller rivals to post their third straight win in as many outings in the group stage.
De La Salle standout Angel Canino sparkled for the PH crew with 16 points, while Sisi Rondina also sizzled by pouring all her 12 points on attacks.
“Proud ako sa team namin kasi hindi madaling kalaban yung Iran,” said PH team skipper Jia De Guzman, who came through with variety of smart plays for her spikers while wounding up with five points.
“Defensively sa floor talaga matibay sila, so kailangan matibay kami,” the national team veteran added.
It was a momentous feat for the Nationals as not only it surpassed their previous showing of seventh place last year in Indonesia, but it was also the first time that a PH team by any gender made it to an AVC competition semis.
“These guys are amazing,” said PH team coach Jorge De Brito.
“They are consistent with receive, consistent with transition… and the young players are really willing to adjust and determined to play for the national team,” he added.
“We never expected this straight-set win,” De Guzman, meanwhile, said. “Thankfully, we can rest early tonight kasi we still have one game tomorrow.”
That meant facing Chinese Taipei on Sunday, May 26, a team aching to crawl out of 0-3 hole but brimming with promise as far as De Guzman was concerned.
“Chinese Taipei is a very good defensively. Medyo lamang kami sa height, so we’ll see kung paano magre-react yung team (tomorrow),” De Guzman said.
For now, the Nationals will relish this morale-boosting win.
They needed only 74 minutes in disposing of Iran, firing more kills, 47-29, while also drilling in seven aces.
They also limited hard-hitting skipper Aytak Salamat to only 10 points, with the rest of her teammates finishing in single-digit productions.
