Tag: missing

Missing players, reassigned roles hit Alas Pilipinas with reality check

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Bella Belen.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Coming off the high of a historic achievement, Alas Pilipinas is beginning to feel some of the problems of maintaining a high-profile national pool.

Luckily, the women’s program has a few reinforcements coming its way.

National University (NU) ace and UAAP two-time MVP Bella Belen and multi awarded spiker Jema Galanza will bolster Alas Pilipinas when it takes on Vietnam on Thursday in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenger Cup at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The development took place as the playing status of vital players such as Eya Laure and Jen Nierva remains questionable with Chery Tiggo no longer allowing the two to attend the practices of the national team.

“But we are still waiting for them,” coach Jorge Souza de Brito told the Inquirer over the phone on Tuesday. “It’s OK. If [they are no longer suiting up] we’re gonna fix the problem that we have with the good players [from] our lineup.”

The national squad is coming off a historic bronze-medal performance in the previous AVC Challenge Cup.

Alas Pilipinas is also awaiting opposite spiker Alyssa Solomon, who declined the national team call up stating her need for more time to recover after leading the Lady Bulldogs to a golden run in the UAAP Season 86. De Brito said that Alas can expect Solomon to join and start training before the SEA V.League and addressed the absence of Tots Carlos.

“Rebisco (Creamline’s parent company) is supposed to release a statement regarding her condition and what happened [to her], why she’s not [in training], De Brito said as fans will have to wait more before seeing the Creamline mainstay in an Alas uniform. “It’s out of my control.”

Carlos was recently added to the Alas’ player pool even as the Cool Smasher was experiencing some injury after Creamline’s eighth Premier Volleyball League (PVL) championship earlier this year.

No shortage of talent

“Of course it [has] a huge [impact] because we are just beginning [our journey] with them and they are [possible] first six [selections],” De Brito said. “[But] every time you miss starting players, [it] also gives a chance for other players [to step up].”“In fact, they are right there so they are fighting for their place [which the missing players] should be the first one to get the spot for this competition,” said the newly re-signed mentor, who had agreed to extend his stay with the national team for two more years after his contract expired in June.

There is no shortage of talent in the Alas pool that still has opposite spikers such as Faith Nisperos, NU’s Arah Panique and Challenge Cup best opposite hitter Angel Canino of La Salle.

Middle blocker Fifi Sharma, veteran Dell Palomata and prospected top PVL pick Thea Gagate will still man the net while outside hitters Vanie Gandler and Sisi Rondina continues to backstop Alas now with Belen under the leadership of Jia de Guzman and back up playmaker Julia Coronel, another PVL aspirant.

“It’s really hard but also we [will] give other players more chances, more spots to play and show up in the national team—hard but it’s the reality right now,” De Brito added.

Galanza, however, might be seen playing a different role than her usual offensive position to fill up the libero spot left by Nierva.



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“Right now, it’s undecided. It can be because she’s a really good receiver, she has a good defense and since we have a problem we have to fix it with what we have,” De Brito said. “But it’s still not 100 percent.” INQ

Dutch star scorer proud of team despite missing Olympics

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Netherlands’ Nimir Abdel Aziz in the VNL 2024.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Nimir Abdel-Aziz’s greatest scoring nights went for naught after the Netherlands ended up winless in Manila to cap its Volleyball Nations League (VNL) season.

Abdel-Aziz scored another 37-point explosion highlighted by six aces but the Netherlands fell to Canada in five sets,  21-25, 25-22, 28-26, 14-25, 15-9, on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The Dutch star emerged as the league’s top scorer with a total of 284 points built on 235 spikes, 40 aces, and nine blocks. He was the only VNL player to score 30-plus points in five matches. 

But he’s not thinking about his scoring tear as all he wanted was to give his best for his team. 

“I just try to do my best like all the teams. We wanted to fight, we wanted to give our best. And I really don’t care about the individual points because I am just proud of the team and how we stood on the court,” said Abdel-Aziz, who averaged 29.8 points in four games in Manila.

The Netherlands lost all four games in Manila, missing the Final Eight with a 3-9 record to end the VNL season. But Abdel-Aziz remained proud of his teammates.

“I think we had a good fight, we gave everything. It was not enough but I am proud of the team [despite] not qualifying for the Olympics and everything. We continued to fight so we did great,” he said. “It’s our third year in a row. Every year, [we’re] improving. This year was great, so I think it’s only gonna get better.”

The 32-year-old Abdel-Aziz admitted that some of the Dutch players are retiring after the VNL, passing the torch to the young guns.

“We will see what’s gonna happen in the next year because I think some of us won’t be there anymore. So, it’s also time for some young generation guys. So we’ll see how they will develop and how they can continue to reach a higher level,” he said.

Despite the winless Manila stint, the scoring machine expressed his gratitude to Filipino fans for supporting them.

“The thing for us volleyball players, it’s one of the best places to play because the fans are here, they are supporting everybody. So, it’s not just the home crowds like in other venues,” Abdel-Aziz said. “Here, we feel support from everybody, every game, doesn’t matter who we play. Maybe a little less against Japan but for the rest, we feel a lot [of support], so it feels great to play here.”



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Lassiter says losing in PBA Finals worse than missing record

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San Miguel Beermen’s Marcio Lassiter during Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Marcio Lassiter missed out on some big stuff in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

For one, Lassiter and San Miguel fell short of defending its title against Meralco, which won its first PBA title after six games.

Then Lassiter also missed out on his dream scenario of being atop the leaderboard for most three-pointers made by a PBA player in history this oncference.

READ: PBA: Classy San Miguel core looking forward to next challenge

Lassiter, though, isn’t even concerned about the record. For him, losing the title stung much worse.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” said Lassiter, pertaining to the three-point record.

“All the individual awards, I have never won. I’ve never come here and say I want to be a mythical player, obviously you want to be but I’ve never come into situations where I say I want to be that. It’s always a team thing for me.”

Lassiter dropped 11 points in the Beermen’s last gasp effort of forcing a do-or-die, only to absorb an 80-78 loss at the hands of the Bolts in Game 6 at Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

READ: PBA Finals loss fuels CJ Perez to get better

It certainly didn’t help Lassiter’s cause that he didn’t sink any triples in the season-ending loss.

Prior to the Finals, the veteran sniper had 1,224 recorded triples.

Lassiter sank 12 money balls across six games to go up to 1,236 but is still at third behind legends Allan Caidic (1,242) and record-holder Jimmy Alapag (1,250).

Despite inching closer to the top, Lassiter said that next season, he will focus on bouncing back and not gaining the bragging rights of being the league’s best shooter in history.

“Obviously, this one hurts. I wanted to win so bad.”



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“At least I get to recover, come back and get back to it. The love for the game’s still there. Whatever happened, has already happened and I’ll go from there. I’ll keep on chipping away with that chip on my shoulder.”