ALAS Pilipinas cruised past Australia, 25-13, 25-15, 25-20, to strengthen its hold of the second seed at the end of pool play in the 2025 VTV Cup on Tuesday in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam.
The Philippines will seal the No. 2 spot in Pool A if Vietnam beats Sichuan Wuliangchun in tonight’s pool play finale.
It will entail a crossover quarterfinals matchup with Est Cola, Thailand’s under-21 national team, that previously finished fourth among five teams in the 2024 PVL Invitational Conference.
Alas started strong and finished even stronger against the Aussies just like their bronze-medal sweep win back in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup in Manila.
Petro Gazz’ MVP duo in Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips stretched their strong run of form in their Alas debuts, leading an 18-6 blitz to win the first set with ease.
And just like the opening frame, Alas’ lead ballooned to as much as 10 late in the second set.
It would stay that way in the third set as a relentless Philippine offense, backed by the likes of Vanie Gandler and newcomers Leila Cruz and Alleiah Malaluan, proved too much for the Aussies to stop.
The nationals will have a one-day break before the playoffs begin on Thursday.
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