VOLLEY
Alas Men’s ends podium bid
Alas Pilipinas bowed out of medal contention after absorbing a 21-25, 20-25, 22-25, loss to powerhouse China in Pool D of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games men’s volleyball competition on Monday at the Park Arena Komaki.
Back-to-back defeats in two days eliminated Alas from the race for a quarterfinal seat with one more game left in the group stage.
The embattled Alas, which has been dealing with funding stress due to the Philippine National Volleyball Federation’s (PNVF) continued suspension and financial mess, has been relegated to the classification round.
Team captain Bryan Bagunas led the Philippines’ gallant stand against the world No. 33 China with 15 points on 13 kills and three aces.
Leo Ordiales had 11 points while Peng Taguibolos added nine points for Alas.
The Filipinos also suffered a straight-sets loss to South Korea on Sunday.
Bagunas, following the team’s defeat to Korea, aired concerns about the players’ lack of training allowances since July, two months after the PNVF was suspended by the FIVB, the Philippines Olympic Committee and the Philippines Sports Commission due to governing issues.
The PNVF, through its new president Frank Lao, has addressed the issue on Monday.
“We’re thankful to PNVF and PSC for responding to my statement. It’s a big thing that we received a response from them. We know that they’re still there and ready to help us,” said Bagunas, who starred in Alas’ 2019 Southeast Asian Games silver and 2025 edition bronze finishes.
The Philippines battles Chinese Taipei on Tuesday to build momentum heading into the classification round.
Alas gave China fits the whole match.
Trailing, 17-24, in the first set, Bagunas strung together three straight aces as Alas saved four set points, only for him to overcook his backrow attack.
A kill by Lirick Mendoza trimmed Alas’ deficit to 17-18, but costly miscues did the Filipinos in.
The Pinoy spikers again kept it close in the third, only to be troubled again by errors that, by the end of the match, totaled 28.