Alas Pilipinas has failed to win a single match in the preliminary round in the 2025 AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup as they faltered against Chinese Taipei, 19-25, 25-23, 28-30, 20-25, on Wednesday, June 18.

After winning the second set, Alas Pilipinas was already at set point in the third set, 28-27, before Chang Yu-sheng’s backrow kill tied the match again, 28-all. Josh Ybañez had an over-received pass in the next play that led to a kill by Chang Yu-chen.

Alas Pilipinas team captain Marck Espejo, who has been playing through injury the entire match, had a costly attack error to give Chinese Taipei the set, 30-28. In the fourth set, Chinese Taipei gained complete momentum, ultimately leading to the end.

Espejo led Alas Pilipinas with 26 points in 22 attacks and four blocks, while Leo Ordiales added 15 points in 13 attacks and two aces.

For Chinese Taipei, Chang Yu-sheng led the team with 24 points in 21 attacks and three blocks. Wen Yi-kai contributed 14 points in 12 attacks, a block, and an ace, while team captain Chang Yu-chen added 12 points in nine attacks and three blocks.

With the win, Chinese Taipei has already secured a spot in the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcome of their game against Pakistan today, June 19. Meanwhile, Alas Pilipinas will be playing for the 9th-11th classification round.

Take a closer look at Alas Pilipinas’ loss against Pakistan through these statistics:

Errors, Errors, Errors

Once again, Alas Pilipinas committed more errors than Chinese Taipei, which proved to be the difference in this match. Alas Pilipinas has committed 31 points off their errors, a huge difference from Chinese Taipei’s 22 errors.

In terms of spiking, Chinese Taipei recorded 59 attack points, powered by the trio of Chang Yu-sheng, Wen Yi-kai, and Chang Yu-chen. In comparison, the Philippines had 57 attack points, the majority of which came from Marck Espejo and Leo Ordiales.

Both Chinese Taipei and the Philippines recorded 11 block points and two service aces.

Next for Alas Pilipinas

With the loss, Alas Pilipinas will be facing Thailand and New Zealand in a single round-robin for 9th-11th places.

Alas Pilipinas will face Thailand on Friday, June 21, at 12 am, before facing New Zealand on Tuesday, June 24, at 5 pm.

In the recently concluded 2025 Alas Pilipinas Invitationals, the Philippines edged out Thailand in five sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12.