By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Alas Pilipinas women’s national volleyball team wrapped up their Southeast Asian V-League Leg 1 campaign with a bronze medal finish on August 4, 2024, in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam.
Alas bounced back from a disappointing 0-2 opening campaign and took down Indonesia in four sets during the battle for bronze, 25-23, 15-25, 25-23, 25-21.
It was a sigh of relief for the Philippine volleyball community as Alas’ huge win over the Indonesians marked the end of their winless streak which dates back two years ago.
Against Indonesia, the Filipinas made sure they’d end up with a win in the prestigious volleyball tournament and pummeled them with their backset attacks.
Led by collegiate star Alyssa Solomon, the revamped Alas Pilipinas had plenty of firepower and it was the stalwart from NU who stepped up when her team needed her the most.
The towering outside spiker delivered 16 big points and top-scored Alas derived from 14 successful attacks.
Jia Morado-De Guzman went to her young spiker after Solomon connected on three of her first four offensive attempts.
With momentum on Solomon, the prized and veteran setter just kept on feeding her which helped her gain more confidence heading into the last three sets.
Despite Indonesia equalizing the match at 1-all when they convincingly bagged the second set, Alas got the better of them in sets 3 and 4 to cap off the bronze medal win with a 4-1 victory.
Backstopping Solomon during the huge win were Sisi Rondina and Eya Laure who each chipped in 13 markers for the national squad.
Alas will still have a chance for a better outing when the second leg of the Southeast Asian V-League continues on August 9, 2024, in Thailand.
