Alas Pilipinas sweeps Kazakhstan, books semis slot in AVC Nations Cup

The Alas Pilipinas women's national team swept Kazakhstan, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19, on Thursday in Vietnam to book a slot in the AVC Nations Cup semifinals.

After dominating in the second set, the nationals had a neck-and-neck affair with the Kazakhs and were tied at 17 before the Philippines had a 5-0 run with Alyssa Solomon and Bella Belen taking charge. Margarita Belchenko stopped the dry spell for the Kazakhs but Belen scored back-to-back to reach match point. Belchenko salvaged one for the Kazakhs but Solomon then sealed the victory for the Philippines.

Belen, Solomon, and Angel Canino led the offense for the Philippines with 16 points, 14 points, and 13 points, respectively, with the De La Salle University standout having 11 digs as well.

Tatyana Nikitina led the Kazakhs with 12 points in the losing effort.

With the victory, the Philippines finished on top of Pool B with a 4-1 record at the end of pool play, while the Kazakhs also booked a slot in the semis as the no. 2 team.

The Philippines will still wait for the no. 2 team of Pool A.

Tournament recap:

• June 7: Philippines 3-0 Mongolia
• June 8: Philippines 3-1 Indonesia
• June 9: Philippines 2-3 Iran
• June 11: Philippines 3-0 New Zealand
• June 12: Philippines 3-0 Kazakhstan

—JKC, GMA Integrated News