AFTER absorbing two consecutive heartbreaks, the Alas Pilipinas national men’s volleyball team’s title hopes in the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup came to an end, dropping to the classification phase of the tournament in Bahrain.
The Nationals failed to register a win in the Pool C preliminaries, resulting in relegation to the 9th to 11th place classification round.
Last Tuesday night (Manila time), the Filipino spikers fell to Pakistan 18-25, 12-25, 25-18, 22-25 then suffered another four-setter loss to Chinese Taipei the following night 19-25, 25-23, 28-30, 20-25 at the Isa bin Rashid Hall in Manama.
Following the loss to Chinese Taipei, the Philippines slipped two places in the world rankings at No. 66.
The Angiolino Frigoni-mentored Alas side will try to salvage some measure of pride and a good spot in the final standings of the week-long competition before it wraps its campaign.
Alas men will battle the Pool A and Pool D third-ranked teams Thailand and New Zealand.
Thailand and New Zealand also finished at the bottom of their respective pools, with only the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals.
The Marck Espejo-skippered Alas spikers will go up against Thailand on Saturday before it collides with New Zealand on Sunday at the same venue.
In the last year’s edition of the continental meet, formerly called as the AVC Challenge Cup, Alas finished at 10th place of the 12-team field.
Alas’ stint in the Nations Cup is part of its preparations for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship set for September on home soil.
