Jia De Guzman and Alas Pilipinas during a game against Vietnam in the FIVB Challenger Cup in Manila.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Jia De Guzman emphasized the value of continuity for the Alas Pilipinas’ program after Vietnam reasserted its mastery of the Philippine squad in the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Challenger Cup.
The new breed of national players couldn’t stop Vietnam as it ended the host’s world stint in just one game with a 25-14, 25-22, 25-21 win on Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Losing eight in their last eight meetings just showed how the Vietnamese built a formidable team through its continuity and the commitment of its national team members.
READ: Vietnam star T4 all praises for Jia De Guzman, Alas Pilipinas
Jia De Guzman on growing old with the Philippine women’s volleyball team. #FIVBChallengerCup @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/61zax5V1KL
— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) July 5, 2024
And for De Guzman, it’s what Alas needs to reach greater heights and match the level of Vietnam and other Southeast Asian rivals.
“We’re going against the teams who grew up together inside the national team. That’s also our goal, to grow old together in the national team. That’s how you build longevity, that’s how you build chemistry, that’s how you build a strong team, in the long run,” said the Alas team captain in Filipino. “We can’t expect that one loss or one adversity would lead to changes. Keep the same people, add new people, and reinforce the team. That’s how you make a team strong. Hopefully, we will be able to do that.”
Ahead of their road to the Volleyball Nations League qualifiers, the Philippine National Volleyball Federation added Alyssa Solomon, Bella Belen, Jema Galanza, and Tots Carlos. But only Galanza and Belen joined the squad with Solomon still recovering, while Carlos was ruled out of the tournament.
The Philippines put up a gallant stand against the SEA Games silver medalist and AVC Challenge Cup champion Vietnam but it wasn’t enough to extend its Challenger Cup campaign to the semifinal as the eight-time PVL Best Setter stressed the point of improvements for their squad.
“We still have a lot to improve individually and as a team. Coach has always told us many times to be patient with ourselves and with the team. With Vietnam and more experienced teams, we’ll go through this. It’s just they really stuck together all throughout these years so that’s what we need to do,” she said.
READ: Alas Pilipinas loses to Vietnam, bows out of FIVB Challenger Cup
De Guzman, who led Alas to a historic bronze in the AVC Challenge Cup last May, remained proud of her team for standing their ground against the SEA powerhouse, led by Thi Bich Tuyen Nguyen’s 30-point explosion.
“I’m very proud of the girls because they fought for every point, and until the end. We gave our best and In terms of experience, we still lack but we know that eventually, we will reach that level,” said the Creamline Cool Smasher, who played in Japan V.League with the Denso AiryBees. “We have to take all the learnings from every game, win or lose.”
“Everyone’s really communicating and adjusting in-game. So you can see the improvement in our chemistry. All we have to do is retain the team, keep playing together, and hopefully, next time we face Vietnam, we’ll play better.”
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De Guzman and the Filipino Spikers fly to Japan next week for a training camp before seeing action in the SEA V.League in August.
“In the SEA V.League, we will face the teams from SEA Games. After today’s game, we go back to the drawing board, we go back to training, improve what we can from this game, individually and as a team,” she said.