ALAS Pilipinas Women punched the last ticket to the semifinals of the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, eliminating Singapore from the medal race, 25-13, 25-8, 25-18, on Friday at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok.
The Philippines advances to the last four for the fourth consecutive edition of the biennial meet, having finished fourth in each of the past three stagings, after splitting its group stage assignments with a sweep loss to Thailand and today’s sweep victory.
READ: Short SEA Games prep time comes back to bite Alas in Thai sweep
Having lost to Vietnam in 2017 and to Indonesia in the last three editions, the Nationals now stand one win away from ending two decades of frustration.
A victory in the semifinals against the winner of Vietnam and Indonesia’s pool play finale later would send the Philippines to its first gold medal match since 1997 in Jakarta, where it settled for silver after falling to the Thais.
The duo of Alyssa Solomon and Angel Canino were again at the forefront in powering Alas Women to the semifinals, delivering 10 and nine points, respectively.
Canino even matched her eight-point output from the Thailand loss in the first set alone against Singapore, setting the tone for a far more composed and decisive Philippine performance.
PHOTO: POC
Alas aces must-win test
With the Nationals able to build sizable leads early, head coach Jorge Souza de Brito had the luxury of rolling out his deep bench led by Shaina Nitura, who also fired 10 points in just a set and a half of action.
A blistering start in the opening frame came off the back of the former National University tandem of Solomon and Bella Belen, with the latter chipping in six points.
Everything clicked for the Philippines, which closed the first set on a commanding 9-2 run punctuated by a trademark Solomon kill.
De Brito’s second unit kept the momentum going in the second set, with Nitura, Vanie Gandler and starter Amie Provido combining in a 7-0 finishing kick that left Singapore reeling.
For her part, Provido turned in a strong defensive shift as a starter with eight points built on a game-best five kill blocks and three attacks.
Singapore, the second-youngest squad in the field with an average age of 20.9 years, briefly breathed life into its fading medal hopes in the third set, trimming an early 2-8 deficit to just 13-14, the closest it came to threatening the Philippines.
But the La Salle trio of Canino, Provido and Mars Alba restored order, rebuilding a five-point cushion at 21-16 before Nitura and Maddie Madayag delivered three of the Nationals’ final four points to seal the sweep.
Overall, the Philippines nearly doubled Singapore’s attacking output, 43-24, while adding eight blocks, seven aces, and benefiting from 17 opponent errors.
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