MANILA — Alas Pilipinas Girls continued their resurgence on the world stage, sweeping Tunisia, 27-25, 25-19, 25-16, on Sunday in San Felipe, Chile for their second consecutive victory in the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship.
After dropping their tournament opener to defending champion China, the Filipinas have strung together victories over Mexico and Tunisia to improve to a 2-1 record in Pool B and build momentum heading into the final stretch of the group stage.
Alas Pilipinas survived a tense opening set against Tunisia before imposing its superior attacking game in the next two frames to complete the straight-set victory.
Negrense Caera Celis once again spearheaded the Philippine offense with 15 points, while Xyz Rayco and Sharina Lleses delivered 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Rayco said the victory was particularly satisfying after struggling to find her rhythm in the team’s previous matches.
“I’m happy because everyone contributed. I’m also happy with my game because I was able to show how I really play. I’m satisfied even though I made mistakes because I was able to bounce back and show who I am as a player,” Rayco said.
“The past two days, I didn’t feel like I was playing the right way. I felt like I played poorly. My teammates said it was fine, but I wasn’t satisfied, so today I really wanted to bounce back. I’ll keep this going,” she added.
The Filipinas overwhelmed Tunisia on offense, finishing with a commanding 46-22 advantage in attacks while also producing more service aces, 5-3.
Tunisia held an 8-6 edge in blocks and committed only 16 errors compared with the Philippines’ 24, but could not contain the Alas Girls’ firepower.
Alas Pilipinas U17 team manager Karl Chan said the consecutive victories were encouraging signs for the country’s youth volleyball program.
“We’re not looking too far ahead, but this win shows that the program works, and the girls have shown they can hold their own on the world stage,” Chan said.
The Alas Girls opened their campaign with a straight-set defeat to defending champion China on Friday before recovering with a four-set victory over Mexico on Saturday.
Following a rest day, the Filipinas return to action against Peru this morning before wrapping up the group stage against Venezuela tomorrow./PN
