OKAZAKI, Japan – Alas Pilipinas Women gave China a big scare, but ran out of steam and absorbed an 18-25, 22-25, 8-25 defeat in the opening of the volleyball competition at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Wednesday at the Okazaki Sogo Park here.

Despite the straight-set defeat, Alas Japanese coach, Taka Minowa, was satisfied with team’s performance, saying: “I’m happy.”

The game only served as a warm-up for the National as they need only to beat the Kazakhstan on Thursday to advance to the knockout stage.

“Good warm-up for us,” added Minowa, husband of former UAAP star Jaja Santiago.

Drawing inspiration from the support of a small group Filipinos, chanting “Pilipinas! Pilipinas!,” the Nationals fought the Chinese tooth and nail in the second set, but the reigning champions were simply too strong,

The second set was the most exciting part of the game as the Nationals tied the game at 20-all.

However, Xin Teng joined forces with Zhuang Yushan and 19-year-old Wang Aoqian to end Alas’ spirited comeback.

Tang led China’s assault with 19, including 8 in the second frame while Zhuang and Wang combined for 30 points.

Even local fans cheered for Alas, which got 14 points from Angel Canino and 10 from Eya Laure.

Alyssa Solomon added 9 points while Bella Belen and Shai Nitura were held to one point each, but their efforts did not go to naught as they were wildly applauded.