Alas Pilipinas ended its 2026 SEA Men’s V Cup first-leg campaign on a winning note, rallying from an early deficit to sweep Myanmar, 25-21, 28-26, 25-22, on Saturday at the Candon City Arena.
The victory gave the Philippines a fifth-place finish after back-to-back losses to Cambodia and Indonesia in Pool A, while providing the youthful squad with a much-needed confidence boost heading into the second leg in Jakarta.
Alas Pilipinas Persevere for the Win
Things did not come easy for Alas Pilipinas.
The nationals found themselves trailing 17-11 in the opening set before head coach Angiolino Frigoni turned to his bench. The second unit of Van Book, Lloyd Josafat, Louie Ramirez, Al-Bukharie Sali, and Greg Ancheta changed the complexion of the match, igniting a decisive 14-4 run to steal the opening frame.
From there, the Philippines settled into its rhythm, carrying the momentum through the next two sets to complete the straight-set victory.
Frigoni credited his team’s composure after overcoming its sluggish start.
“I am proud of the improvement of the players during the competition. Today was more difficult, but it was expected because in this match the players had something to lose. In the other matches, they didn’t have anything to lose. They were just playing more freely… Today we started in a very bad way. They were very tense, very afraid to make mistakes. But after that, slowly, with the substitutions and the players getting better as a team, we won.”
Contributions From All Around
Louie Ramirez came off the bench to lead Alas Pilipinas with 14 points on 11 attacks and 3 blocks.
Joshua Magalaman continued his impressive tournament with 12 points, while Axel Van Book added 9 off the bench. Jude Garcia, who shifted to the opposite hitter position after opening the tournament as an outside hitter, chipped in 8 markers.
The Philippines also showed marked improvement in limiting its miscues, committing just 19 errors after finishing with 46 against Cambodia and 23 against Indonesia in its first two matches.
Kyaw Aung Myo paced Myanmar with 16 points, while Aung Ye Lin contributed 12.
With its first victory secured, Alas Pilipinas now shifts its focus to the second leg of the 2026 SEA Men’s V Cup, set for July 22 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
