Alas Pilipinas falls to unbeaten Iran for first loss in AVC Nations Cup

Alas Pilipinas faltered late against the resilient Iran to absorb its first loss in the 2025 AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup, 25-16, 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 13-15, on Monday at the Dong anh Gymnasium in Vietnam.

Enjoying a 2-1 set lead, the Filipinas mounted a huge comeback attempt in the fourth set with Shaina Nitura and Vanie Gandler providing the spark off the bench as they erased an early four-point deficit and turned it into just an 18-19 disadvantage.

Nitura's single block on Shagi Hassankhani even tied things up at 22-all before an attack error from Angel Canino saw Iran taking the set point at 24-22. Fatemah Khalil then sent a strong kill to the newly-subbed Julia Coronel to drag the Philippines to a deciding set.

Nitura continued to shine for Alas as the reigning UAAP Rookie of the Year fueled a 4-0 run, putting the roof on Masoumeh Masi before hitting one from the left side off a Bella Belen setup to give Alas a crucial 11-9 cushion.

The Philippines, however, committed back-to-back errors that allowed Iran to force an 11-all deadlock. A Dell Palomata quick and a much-needed service ace from Gandler then had the Filipinas enjoying a 13-11 lead.

But Alas collapsed in the endgame with Zahra Salehi denying Nitura and Canino committing another attack error, paving the way for Iran's match point at 14-13.

Zahra put the exclamation by shutting down the opposite attack from Canino as the Iranians remained unbeaten at 3-0.

Canino still emerged as the top scorer for the Philippines with 20 points anchored on 17 attacks, two blocks, and one ace while Laure and Palomata chipped in 16 and 10 markers.

Alas fell to a 2-1 card and is now at third place in Pool B. They need to beat two powerhouse clubs in New Zealand on Wednesday and Kazakhstan on Thursday to bolster its contention.

Only the top two teams in the two pools will advance to the crossover semifinals with the champions clinching a ticket to the 2026 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News