Alas Pilipinas lit up the court in Vietnam with a fireworks display of their own on Philippine Independence Day, stunning previously undefeated Kazakhstan in straight sets to top Pool B and clinch a semifinal berth at the 2025 AVC Women’s Nations Cup.
In a commanding performance—expertly orchestrated by team captain and setter Jia de Guzman—the Filipinas dismantled the Central Asian powerhouse, a team ranked 16 spots higher in the world than the 47th-ranked Philippines.
National University standouts Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon combined for 30 of Alas Pilipinas’ 75 total points, leading the charge in the 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 sweep.
Coach Jorge Souza de Brito barely rotated his bench at Thursday’s game in Hanoi, opting to keep faith in the first six he fielded from the start.
Once considered the team to beat in the 11-nation tournament, Kazakhstan appeared out of sync against the Filipinas—clearly reeling from the loss of their captain and top scorer, Sana Anarkulova, who suffered an injury in their previous match against Iran. The Kazakhs managed only 55 points and committed 20 unforced errors.
With the Independence Day triumph, Alas Pilipinas is now set to face the second seed of Pool A in the semifinals on Friday. Vietnam is expected to top Pool A, while Chinese Taipei is likely to take second.
The Filipinas are aiming to improve on their bronze-medal finish at last year’s AVC women’s tournament—then known as the Challenge Cup—held in the Philippines.
