Alas Pilipinas’ hopes of reaching the podium in the first leg of the 2026 SEA Men’s V.League ended after a 25‑20, 25‑23, 27‑25 loss to defending AVC Men’s Nations Cup champion Indonesia on Friday at the Candon City Arena.
The straight‑set defeat dropped the Philippines to 0‑2 in Pool A following its five‑set loss to Cambodia in the opener, eliminating the Nationals from semifinal contention.
Instead, Alas Pilipinas will turn its attention to the fifth‑place classification match against Myanmar on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Angiolino Frigoni Proud Despite Exit
Despite the result, head coach Angiolino Frigoni praised the fight shown by a young Philippine squad, with only five players having prior senior national team experience.
“To the players we have in the middle of the court now, almost all of them are in their first international experience,” Frigoni said. “I am proud of you because they fight for every point.”
“We made mistakes, okay, we made mistakes. Some mistakes, but we were still there. We played every point, and I am very proud of them.”
Alas Pilipinas’ Third‑Set Collapse
The Philippines looked poised to extend the match after building a 14‑8 lead in the third set behind Jian Salarzon, Joshua Magalaman, Jude Garcia, and Adrian Villados, aided by several Indonesian miscues.
Indonesia responded with a 6‑1 run to erase the deficit and tie the frame at 17 before capitalizing on crucial Philippine errors. Alas Pilipinas regained a 23‑21 advantage late, but Boy Arabi answered with a kill before Garcia’s attack error leveled the score. After the teams exchanged points, Ahmad Gumilar broke through the Philippine block for match point before another Garcia attack sailed long, handing Indonesia the victory in one hour and 30 minutes.
The Nationals committed just 23 errors after surrendering 46 against Cambodia, but 11 of those miscues came in the decisive third set.
Leaders and Numbers
Magalaman led the Philippines in scoring for the second straight match with 13 points on 8 attacks and 5 blocks. Garcia added 10 points, while Salarzon made the most of his first tournament appearance with 8 markers. Lirick Mendoza also finished with 8 points.
Indonesia improved to 2‑0 to top Pool A and advance to the crossover semifinals, where it will face Vietnam. Cambodia also advanced and will take on Pool B leader Thailand.
Earlier in the day, Vietnam booked the second semifinal berth from Pool B after defeating Myanmar, 25‑18, 25‑23, 25‑19. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan led Vietnam with 22 points, while Pham Quoc Du added 13, and Tran Duy Tuyen contributed 9. Kyaw Aung Myo scored 13 points for Myanmar, which will face Alas Pilipinas in the fifth‑place classification match.
