Alas Pilipinas women’s team is banking on familiarity to compensate for its limited preparation time for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

Skipper Jia Morado-De Guzman admitted that preparing for the biennial meet, which unwraps on Tuesday, has been quite a challenge, especially with the availability of players from the professional ranks, collegiate level and overseas.

“I think we kind of expected the preparation leading up to the SEA Games was going to be a very big challenge,” the setter said during the send-off prepared by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) for Alas indoor and beach volleyball men’s and women’s teams Saturday at Gloria Maris in San Juan.

Alas will leave for Bangkok on Monday and will open its Pool A campaign against defending champion Thailand on 11 December before clashing with Singapore the next day.

Premier Volleyball League (PVL) players were allowed by their clubs to join the twice-a-week training of Alas head coach Jorge De Brito but some had to skip due to the then-ongoing 2025 Reinforced Conference, which only concluded last Sunday.

College players like Shaina Nitura of Adamson University and De La Salle University’s Amie Provido and Angel Canino also have school commitments and trainings with their respective teams. Japan-based Alyssa Solomon of Osaka Marvelous recently hooked up with Alas following her release.

“We knew there were tournaments for both professional and universities that would happen, I think, before the SEA Games. So, those were out of our control,” De Guzman said.

“But what we could control was to tell the girls to stay healthy. That no matter where you are training, always keep in mind that you are training for a higher purpose. And that is the SEA Games,” added the 10-year national team veteran, marching on her fourth stint in the biennial meet.

“We trust each other that once we return to the national team for training with Alas Pilipinas, we can immediately jell together and everyone is ready.”

De Guzman is confident that the chemistry the team has built over the past two years, playing together, will play a huge factor in Alas’ campaign.

Alas had a runner-up finish in the AVC Nations Cup and back-to-back bronze medals in the two-leg SEA V.League this year.