ALAS Pilipinas has already etched its name in the annals of Philippine volleyball, regardless of how the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup final against Vietnam plays out.
READ: Alas got whacked by T4 and Vietnam in their last clash in Manila
The nationals have already surpassed last year’s historic bronze medal finish in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women in Manila prior to its rebranding as the Nations Cup.
It was the country’s best result in an AVC-sanctioned tournament in 63 years at the time - may it be in men’s or women’s and indoor or beach.
Now that they’re set to jump at least a spot higher on the Nations Cup podium this year, Alas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito is keeping his players grounded and focused on what will be their most important test yet.
“There’s history to this, but right now, we’re looking at the present,” de Brito said during the post-game press conference in Alas’ five-set semifinals escape from Chinese Taipei.
“We’re not going to put this pressure to meet our goal in the finals. We’ll just fight and do our best and the result will come as we keep on working with them.
“We fight, we train and we’ll deserve what result we will get. God bless us for [the final].”
Better than best for flag and country
For Bella Belen, who top-scored for the Philippines with a herculean 14-point, 19-dig, 16-reception triple-double against Chinese Taipei, it’s only going to get harder from here for Alas to strike Nations Cup gold.
But as it has been for the Filipinos all-tournament long, they’ll be putting their best foot forward and leave everything on the court one last time.
“No words can explain how much we wanted this. I will do my best and I will just think what I can do for the team in order to beat Vietnam […] It’s going to be harder for us because we’re in Vietnam,” Belen said.
The way team captain Jia de Guzman puts it, the Nations Cup title game is solely driven by the pursuit of lifting Philippine volleyball to ‘higher heights.’
“I’m just really proud of everyone in this team because we just want to give our best every game,” de Guzman said.
“Last year, our best brought us to bronze and this time, it’s going to bring us to higher heights. We’re just going to bring our best again and no matter what, para lang talaga sa bayan.”
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