MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas will face South Korea on Thursday as the Philippine youth volleyball team seeks to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIVB Girls’ U17 World Championship after becoming the first Philippine squad to reach the tournament’s round of 16.
The Philippines will play South Korea at 8 a.m. in Los Andes, Chile, in the knockout stage.
Alas Pilipinas secured its place in the round of 16 despite losing to Venezuela, 25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 19-25, 15-11, in its final preliminary-round match.
The Philippines finished the pool stage with a 2-3 record, matching Mexico. The Filipinas advanced after earning seven points compared with Mexico’s six, including a point for forcing Venezuela into a five-set match.
Caera Celis led the Philippine comeback against Venezuela with 24 points from 22 attacks and two aces. Xyz Rayco added 19 points from 17 attacks, one block and one ace.
South Korea presents a tougher challenge after sweeping all five of its matches in Pool D.
South Korean standout Son Seo-yeon averaged 19.4 points per match and scored a tournament-high 28 points. Son also helped South Korea win last year’s AVC U16 tournament in Amman, Jordan.
Despite losing its final two pool matches, Alas coach Edwin Leyva said his players showed maturity while competing against international opposition.
“China is clearly on a different level. But against the rest of the pool, I believed we had a chance, if only we had more time to train and gel,” Leyva said. “Still, they’ve matured a lot playing matches at this level.”
The Philippine girls have already secured their best finish in a world championship. They also surpassed the Philippine men’s team that narrowly missed the round of 16 after losing to Iran in five sets at last year’s FIVB World Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The team also surpassed the 18th-place finish of the Philippine women’s squad at the 1974 World Championship in Mexico.
Team manager Karl Chan said he hopes the 14 players can remain together and eventually join the senior national team.
The roster includes Irish Mahinay, Nadeth Herbon, Sharina Lleses, Madele Gale and Jhaynna Bulandres.
“It’s fulfilling to see these kids succeed and achieve more, because it’s the start of their journey in international volleyball,” Chan said. “We’re looking forward to seeing these 14 players be future national team players at the senior level.”
