ALAS Pilipinas Women went out with a bang—and Bella Belen had the final say.
The Philippines swept Hong Kong, 25-21, 25-9, 30-28, on Tuesday to finish ninth at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, closing its campaign with three straight victories.
For two sets, Alas looked untouchable. Then Hong Kong turned the finale into a thriller.
The Filipinas watched a comfortable third set morph into a nail-biter, surrendering four set points before finally finding the escape hatch. With the match—and ninth place—hanging in the balance, Belen stepped up. Twice.
After a frustrating stretch earlier in the tournament, Belen rediscovered her swagger at precisely the right moment, hammering back-to-back attacks to slam the door on Hong Kong.
Game over. Campaign rescued.
Belen led all scorers with 18 points, while Alas’ leading scorer Angel Canino tallied 17. Alyssa Solomon, partner during their college career at the National University, contributed 11.
The victory completed a spotless run through the classification stage, where Alas swept Qatar, Mongolia and Hong Kong in a frenetic three-day sprint.
It was quite the turnaround after consecutive Pool B losses to China and Kazakhstan.
Those losses knocked Alas out of medal contention and into the classification.
The ninth-place finish is the lowest by the Philippines in six Asian Games women’s volleyball appearances. Teams in this Asiad total 16, up from 13 and 11 in the last two Asian Games, respectively.
Alas found a way to finish with a flourish.
And when the moment demanded a closer, Belen brought the hammer.
