Alas Pilipinas’ Cinderella run ends; Iran advances

Alas Pilipinas’ fairytale run came to an end at the hands of vicious Iran.

The world No. 15 Iranians silenced the Filipino spikers and left their legions of fans stunned in a cold-blooded 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20 come-from-behind win to advance to the Round of 16 of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Iran saved six match points before its experience and nerves of steel kicked in to humble the deflated Alas for a 2-1 finish in Pool A.

The many-time Asian champion joined Pool A top seed Tunisia (2-1) in the next phase and will face the top seed in Pool H on Tuesday.

Alas, ranked No. 77, almost pulled off the improbable after Kim Malabunga got a kill block that could’ve finished the match but a great video challenge by Iran on a net fault infraction after the denial tied the fifth set at 19.

Middle blocker Kazemi Yousef gave Iran its first match point advantage but Bryan Bagunas knotted it again at 20. Ali Haghparast pushed Iran back in front before Yousef sealed the win with a solid kill block over Marck Espejo.

Alas, who shocked African powerhouse Egypt in four sets last Tuesday, finished its maiden run on the world stage with a 1-2 card.

“We’re still very happy. I think we’ve shown all Filipino fans that the men’s volleyball here in the Philippines has a great future,” said Bagunas, who had 21 points off 17 kills, three kill blocks and an ace.

“We’re very thankful for their support. I think this is the start of something big for men’s volleyball in the Philippines.”

Iran recovered from a lethargic third set by outlasting Alas in a tight fourth frame.

Leo Ordiales had 21 points, Espejo added 15 while Malabunga added 10 in a wasted effort.

Alas came out brimming with confidence in the opening set and raced to an early four-point lead. The Nationals, behind Marck Espejo and Leo Ordiales, kept the error-plagued Iranians at a safe distance throughout the frame.

Iran’s last of 11 miscues in the first set gave Alas a comfortable, 23-18, cushion. Ordiales pushed Alas at set point before Espejo shut the door on Ali Hajipour at the right corner.

Alas’ intensity waned in the second frame and was troubled by 10 miscues, allowing Iran to engineer an equalizer.

Hossein Poriya and Ali Hajipour scored 22 points each to pace Iran, who survived the match despite giving away 35 points off errors.

Still, Bagunas asserted that they have nothing to be ashamed of.

“I’m so proud of our team. We just wanted to take a set in the tournament but it eventually became a win in the second game and we almost had another one against Iran,” said Bagunas, who also powered the Filipinos to a historic silver medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019.

“The game really showed us that we really needed to earn every point in each match.”