BANGKOK—Alas Pilipinas faces a daunting task of pulling off a shocker against powerhouse Thailand to set the tone for its podium aspirations in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games women’s volleyball competition Thursday at the Huamark Indoor Stadium.
The Filipina spikers’ early acid test in Pool A in hostile territory begins at 6:30 p.m. (Manila time).
Alas head coach Jorge Souza De Brito admits his team has a mountain to scale to bring down the reigning 14-time champion, but the team is unfazed.
“Thailand is always good, it’s always strong, they play at home, and also I think it’s always a pleasure to play against them and measure how we are, at what stage we are as a team,” the Brazilian coach said.
“We may have little time for preparation but the heart is here, that’s all we need now, and that’s all we have,” added de Brito who led the team in the parade of nations alongside Asian Volleyball Confederation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara and Philippine Olympic Committee board director Donaldo Caringal during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony on Tuesday night.
“So, we go for that,” he added.
The Philippines finished third behind Thailand and Vietnam in the 2005 Philippine edition.
De Brito didn’t have the luxury of training a full Alas Women squad because teams in the Premier Volleyball League only released their players to the national team once they were eliminated—for the finalists after the championship was done—from the recent Reinforced Conference which wrapped up last November 30.
Team captain Jia De Guzman is confident that the chemistry the team has built playing together in the past two years will play a huge factor in Alas’ campaign to end a 20-year medal drought.
The Alas Women hopes to carry the momentum of its runner-up finish in the AVC Nations Cup and back-to-back bronze medals in the two-leg SEA V.League this year to give the squad a fighting chance against the Thais, who have not dropped a match against the Philippines since the championship game of the 1993 Singapore edition.
“Well, we’ve gone up against some of the teams that we’re going to play against this SEA Games. So, we have confidence in that. We also have familiarity with each other since we’ve been playing as a team since last year. So, the system is there,” said the decorated setter, who is on her fourth appearance in the biennial meet.
“This time around, we’ve had two seasons of being Alas Pilipinas. But yes, we do wish that we had more time to prepare for this. But nevertheless, the communication, the familiarity, we have that.”
De Guzman has Mars Alba and Julia Coronel to back her up in playmaking while seasoned liberos Dawn Catindig and Justine Jazareno will take care of the floor defense.
De Brito is also pinning his hopes on veteran wingers Eya Laure and Vanie Gandler along with young hitters Angel Canino, Bella Belen, Shaina Nitura and Japan-based Alyssa Solomon.
Headlining Alas’ frontline defense are Maddie Madayag, Dell Palomata and Amie Provido.
“We’re going to fight with pride. If you’re going to simplify, of course, you’re going to be on the stage to get a medal. But we’re not pressured by that,” De Brito said.
“The medal can and has to be the consequence, instead of being the target. The target is to do our best. And then make this more than enough to get to the final.”
Alas will battle Singapore on Friday to close the short group stage action.
Playing in Pool B are last edition’s runner-up Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.
The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout crossover semifinals on December 14. The final is on the following day.
