New standard for Philippine volley set

MANILA, Philippines — Fifteenth place.

That is the new standard for other Philippine volleyball teams to eclipse in future world meets.

It was registered by the gutsy Alas girls, who stunned the Czechs, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22, Sunday at the Parque Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile to cap a historic campaign in the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship.

This extraordinary group, headed by Caera Celis, Xyz Rayco, Jhaynna Bulandres, Irish Mahinay and Khaira Manzano, defied the odds even with just a week of preparation for the 26-nation meet.

And it was heart-warming that they ended their campaign the way everybody wanted – with a victory.

“We learned a lot from every game, even when we made mistakes,” said Celis, who dropped a 25-point masterpiece against Czechia and finished with a team-high average of 18 points per outing – a total of 162 points, the third-highest in the tournament.