THE odds are in the Alas Pilipinas girls’ favor.
Needing to just reach the fifth and final set to advance to the Round of 16 of the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship, the Filipinas did just that after battling the Venezuelans tooth and nail before succumbing, 25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 19-25, 15-11, on Wednesday in San Felipe, Chile.
It also assured the Philippines of its best finish in the biennial meet — now on its second edition — since it didn’t play in the inaugural staging in Lima, Peru.
Down by two sets, Caera Celis and Xyz Ellen Rayco went to work and combined for 15 points in the third set that the Nationals seized and used to fuel another uprising in the next set that forged a decider.
Alas eventually lost that one but the job was already done.
Ms. Celis and Ms. Rayco wound up with 24 and 19 points, respectively.
The Nationals will go to Los Andes, which is 17 kilometers or around 20-minute bus ride from San Felipe, where they will battle the fancied South Koreans, who topped Pool D via a five-match sweep.
The Filipinas actually ended up tied for fourth in Pool B with the Mexicans, who turned back the Tunisians, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25, on 2-3 cards but the former took the ticket to the knockout Last 16 due to a higher tiebreak points, 7-6.
And that five-set defeat was significant since, based on rules, it accounts for a point against two points for a win.
“China is clearly on a different level. But against the rest of the pool, I believed we had a chance, if only we had more time to train and gel. Still, they’ve matured a lot playing matches at this level,” said Alas coach Edwin Leyva. — Joey Villar