ALAS Pilipinas made it two wins in a row, fighting back from a set down to outlast India, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18, in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Angel Canino ran the show once more for the nationals in a fitting follow-up to her impressive debut for flag and country with 22 points on 19 attacks, two aces and one block, including the last four set-clinching points in Set 2 to kickstart Alas’ victorious comeback.
READ: Jia de Guzman proves she's still the gold standard for setters
Eya Laure completed Alas' one-two scoring punch alongside Canino with 17 points on 15 attacks and two aces.
"Nandito na kami. Hindi namin bibitawan ‘to nang basta-basta. ‘Yung opportunity, hindi naman ‘to basta-bastang dumadating lang. Ngayong nandito na sa harap namin, i-mmaximize namin at gagawin pa namin as a team ‘yung pinaka-maganda na pwede naming magawa para sa bayan," said Laure.
Canino added: "Sobrang different na ‘to at sobrang bihirang opportunity na ‘to na nabigay sa’min. I-ggrab na namin ‘to and siyempre kung ano ‘yung nakikita naming mali, we’ll try to minimize it next time."
Jia presides over comeback
Team captain Jia de Guzman's (five points) fluid playmaking reflected yet again in the numbers as ex-La Salle middle blockers Fifi Sharma and Thea Gagate both had 12-point performances in another convincing show of strength for the hastily-assembled nationals.
Sisi Rondina pitched in nine markers to cap off Alas' second win on the spin in Pool A.
Only host Philippines remained unscathed in Pool A two games into the tournament, with Iran (May 25) and Chinese Taipei (May 26) still to come to wrap up the preliminaries.
India’s perfect start to the tournament ended after just two games since completing back-to-back sweeps over Alas’ forthcoming foes Iran and Chinese Taipei.
As it stands, the Philippines and India occupy the top two places which will be enough to send them to the semifinals should they hold fort until the end of pool play.
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