Alas Pilipinas will face Iran in the battle for seventh place at the 2026 AVC Women’s Cup.
The home bets had to settle for this matchup after Australia clinched the third seed of Pool A by beating Uzbekistan, 25-20, 28-30, 25-16, 25-8, on Friday at the Candon City Arena here.
Regardless, Alas hopes to end the tournament on a high note.
“Kailangan namin talagang pagtrabahuhan pa. So, may ilang days kami to train. So hopefully, mas ma-polish pa namin and makapag-communicate kami as a team,” said team captain Alyssa Valdez after their loss to Chinese Taipei on Thursday. “Ang magiging main goal, siyempre best na magagawa namin para maipanalo namin ‘yung game. Kasi gusto namin mag-end ‘tong tournament na high note kami,” added interim head coach Shaq delos Santos.
They will finish significantly lower than last year’s result, where the former Alas core clinched the silver.
Meanwhile, South Korea has clinched the top seed in Pool A with a 5-0 card after beating Chinese Taipei (4-1) in five long sets, 25-19, 19-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-12, on Friday night, concluding the pool phase.
The Koreans will face Vietnam in the semifinals, while Chinese Taipei will battle Kazakhstan for a spot in the gold medal match.
Both Final Four matches in the tourney presented by the PSC, FIVB, AVC, Volleyball World and Candon City headed by Mayor Eric Singson are on June 13, Saturday.
