Alas Pilipinas Girls book historic 2026 FIVB U17 World Championship ticket

The future of Philippine volleyball looks even brighter as the Alas Pilipinas Girls secured a berth in the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship.

The youth national team accomplished the feat after defeating Thailand, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, in their fifth-place match in the 2nd AVC Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship on Saturday at the Prince Hamzah Sports Hall in Amman, Jordan.

The top four teams and defending champion China qualified for next year’s World Championship, with gold medalist South Korea, silver medalist Chinese Taipei, and fourth-ranked Japan joining the Philippines and the Chinese squad.

Team captain Xyz Rayco capped her international debut with a statement performance, tallying 30 points built on 25 attacks, four blocks, and one ace to lead the young Filipinas to the world stage, which will be hosted by Chile.

“That’s really the icing on the cake,” said Alas U16 coach Edwin Leyva.

“We only had two weeks to prepare, and at first, we were just a ragtag team. But we took it one set at a time, and now our dream has come true.”

Rayco came up clutch for the Philippines, breaking a 19-all deadlock in the fourth set by scoring the last three points as they fended off a furious Thailand rally.

“I’m inspired because I’m still young, but I’ve already come this far, and I know there’s still a higher level waiting for me,” said Rayco.

“In the third set, we started to feel down, but in the fourth, we didn’t let it happen again because we didn’t want a repeat of our last game.”

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News