Alas Pilipinas Girls fall to Venezuela anew in FIVB U17 Worlds classification

Alas Pilipinas Girls failed to exact revenge after bowing anew to Venezuela, this time in the classification round of the 2026 FIVB U17 Volleyball Girls World Championship, 22-25, 15-25, 25-20, 22-25, on Sunday in Chile.

Alas previously lost to the same team when the young Filipinas ran out of gas in the deciding set to absorb a 9-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 11-15 loss in their final game of the preliminary round.

The recent loss sent Alas to the battle for 15th place against world No. 22 Czechia later at 9 p.m. as the Philippines will look to end the tournament on a winning note.

“What matters is that we learn from every game and use those lessons to get better,” team manager Karl Chan said.

“Alas Pilipinas has played well despite having so little time to build chemistry. This team had been together for only about a week before we left for Chile, while you can see that the other teams have had much more time to play and develop together.”

In their second meeting against Venezuela, Xyz Rayco and Caera Celis took charge with 15 and 14 points each with the 15-year-old Rayco also grabbing six receptions and 12 digs to lead from both ends.

Before this match, Alas came from a loss to Japan, 23-25, 19-25, 16-25, during their playoff for 9th to 16th in the classification phase.

—JKC, GMA News