ALAS Pilipinas Girls ended their historic campaign in the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship on a winning note, defeating Czechia in four sets, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22, in the classification match for 15th and 16th places on Sunday in Santiago, Chile.
The victory snapped the Philippines’ five-game losing streak and gave the young Filipinas a 3-6 record in the tournament, good for 15th overall in their first appearance on the world stage.
After dropping the opening set, the Alas Girls responded strongly, taking control of the next three frames to close out the tournament with a victory.
The Philippines held a slight advantage in attacks, 47-45, and dominated the service department, 13-7, although Czechia had the edge in blocks, 11-9. The Filipinas also committed fewer errors, 20 compared with Czechia’s 27.
The Alas Girls made history by reaching the Round of 16, advancing out of a preliminary pool that included defending champion China, Mexico, Tunisia, Peru and Venezuela.
The Philippines opened its campaign with a straight-set loss to China before bouncing back with victories over Mexico and Tunisia. It then dropped matches to Peru and Venezuela to finish the pool stage with a 2-3 record.
In the Round of 16, the Alas Girls fell to South Korea before losing classification matches to Japan and Venezuela.
Their run to the Round of 16 marked a significant milestone for Philippine youth volleyball and gave the young national team valuable experience against some of the world’s top under-17 programs. (Adrian Co)
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STRONG Group Athletics-Pilipinas continued its winning run in the 2026 William Jones Cup, defeating Chinese Taipei Blue, 97-78, on Sunday night at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Isaiah Piñeiro and Tajuan Steven Agee led the way for Strong Group Athletics-Pilipinas with 19 points apiece as they recorded their second straight victory for a 2-1 win-loss slate.
Derrick Steven Fenner Jr. added 15 points, while Boban Marjanovic contributed 14 markers and Remy Martin finished with 13 points.
The victory marked Strong Group’s second straight win in the tournament after beating Japan, 78-72, on Saturday.
Strong Group took control early, opening the game with a 27-23 lead before extending its advantage to 52-40 at halftime. The Philippine side continued to pull away in the third quarter, taking a commanding 77-60 lead heading into the final period.
Strong Group also controlled the shooting battle, converting 30 of 56 attempts from the field for 53.6 percent, compared with Chinese Taipei’s 44.8 percent on 13-of-29 shooting.
Kuo Chun-Yen paced Chinese Taipei with 14 points, while Chou Kuei-Yu and Jonah Morrison added 12 apiece. Sung Shin-Hao finished with 10 points. They slipped to a 1-2 mark. (Adrian Co)
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