Alas Pilipinas’ men’s national volleyball team absorbed a straight-set loss to Indonesia, 17-25, 25-27, 24-26, in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, December 16.
After struggling early in the match, Alas Pilipinas gradually found its rhythm and forced a 24-all deadlock in the third set. However, Indonesia’s Rivan Nurmulki and Daffa Naufal Mauluddan delivered back-to-back kills to seal the victory.
“We were focused on this game. It’s not that we were not focusing,” head coach Angiolino Frigoni said. “Some things just were not going well today, and it was very evident that our serve was not working.”
“We had the same problem against Myanmar, and I hope we get better with our service because without service, we lost close sets like 25-23 and 26-24. I’m not disappointed at all with the team, except for some mistakes we made—but that can happen.”
Team captain Bryan Bagunas led Alas Pilipinas with 16 points, while Marck Espejo chipped in nine. Leo Ordiales added eight markers.
Indonesia was paced by Nurmulki, who finished with 22 points on 19 attacks, two aces, and a block. Boy Arnez Arabi contributed 12 points, while Mauluddan had nine.
Alas Pilipinas will face host Thailand in the semifinals on Thursday, December 18, at the same venue.
Frigoni Laments Lack of Confidence
For Frigoni, the issue was not a lack of skill but a lack of confidence, particularly from the service line.
“It’s mostly confidence. We have this problem with the serve—we’re talking to the players, and they have to get back their confidence,” he said.
“This game almost doesn’t count for us in terms of the standings. We still have to play the semifinals. It doesn’t matter if it’s Vietnam or Thailand—we have to play a semifinal. That’s the most important thing.”
Despite the loss, Frigoni saw positives in how his squad responded.
“I’m happy because we got back our fight. We were down, we were back, sometimes even in front, but we continued to play,” he said. “For that, I’m satisfied. We’ll see what happens in the semifinals.”
“I have a lot of confidence in these players—they can do it.”
