The Philippine women’s volleyball team averted a monumental meltdown, and thanks to the steady hands of veteran spiker Eya Laure, entered the final of the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup in a five-set thriller against 2023 bronze medalist Taiwan, 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 15-12, on Friday night in Hanoi.
Overshadowed by the younger, taller spiking trinity of Bella Belen, Angel Canino, and Alyssa Solomon from the UAAP, who played dominantly in the first two sets, fifth year national team head coach Edson de Brito went to Laure in the open when things seemed to have gone downhill for Alas Pilipinas.
The gamble paid off, as the former UAAP best open spiker from the University of Santo Tomas, currently unattached in the pro ranks, fired five of her nine points in the clutch, when the Philippines created a separation from a 6-6 tie in the deciding set.
With Laure sending Alas to match point with a nailbiting kill near the zone five baseline, reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player Bella Belen, after a long rally and an anxious challenge by the Brito, scored the winner with a spike that grazed the nails of Yeh Yu-Wen.
This marked the return of the women’s national team to an international final for the first time since the 1997 Southeast Asian Games, ushering in a resurgence in the women’s volleyball program of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation in the international stage in the era of massive commercial success in the domestic scene.
“When we went to the dugout in our win against Kazakhstan, we knew that today was also going to be a hard game,” said team captain and main setter Jia Morado. “But we were grateful that we surpassed that test of character also, being up two sets [then losing] two sets and coming back in the fifth set. That’s really hard to do against a team like Chinese Taipei,” she continued.
Belen led Alas’ balanced attack with 15 points, four blocks, and 19 digs; Solomon added 12 points while Fifi Sharma had a tournament high 10 points.
Chen Chieh led Taiwan with 17 points while Liu Shuang-Ling added 15 for a likewise balanced spread.
The Philippines will spike for gold on June 14, 2025, at 9 PM against defending two-time champion and home team Vietnam. * *
