ALAS Pilipinas Men head coach Angiolino Frigoni wasn’t exactly beaming after a hard-fought 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 win over Myanmar in their 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games men's volleyball opener.
The Italian mentor’s frustrations, however, didn’t stem from Myanmar’s unexpected resistance, acknowledging how the unranked Burmese side had shown grit against a Philippine team riding off the coattails of a historic 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship campaign.
READ: Bagunas makes sure Alas Men begins SEA Games with a win
Ultimately, it was those fundamental errors, shaky defense and the issue of conditioning that left Frigoni scratching his head.
“We have to change something. We didn’t serve well, we didn’t defend. Some players were not in very good condition yet. I hope that we will get them in condition for the next match,” Frigoni said.
“To us, after we resolved a little [of these problems], it was enough to win this match. Next match, I don’t know.”
The numbers told the story as Alas Men racked up 23 unforced errors across three sets — eight in the first, nine in the second, and six in the third.
Myanmar, meanwhile, countered the Philippines’ power with clever block-outs and placement shots, leaving Frigoni lamenting the defense: a mere 15-13 lead in attack points and just three kill blocks for the Nationals.
“We have to defend more and add weight to the block and the timing of the block. They made too many block-outs,” he added.
Finding a late spark
Still, there was a promising bright spot in it all as that 9-2 Alas run to close the first set, overcoming a 16-21 deficit, showed the determination Frigoni wants to see throughout.
He also singled out the lone newcomer in the squad, opposite hitter Al-Bukharie Sali, for a promising cameo in that first-set comeback.
“Sali, who has never played with us, did a good job and had good defense,” Frigoni said.
Consistency may have been lacking in the SEA Games opener, but Frigoni saw a spark he'd hope to see more of as the competition runs its course.
“What we did in the last part of the first set is what we normally do. For our defense and counter-attacks, it’s normally good, but today, no,” he admitted.
Now semis-bound, the Philippines will close out the group stage against Indonesia on Tuesday (1:30 p.m. Manila time) before facing either Vietnam or Thailand for a spot in the gold medal match.
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