THE Alas Pilipinas men’s national volleyball team coach Angiolino Frigoni wants nothing but for his players to sustain their progress ahead of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025 with less than three months to go.
The Nationals showed vast improvement under the 71-year-old Italian strategist as the Filipino spikers swept the three-day Alas Invitationals last week at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After the victorious run of the Alas men in the four-squad tournament where the country defeated the Thailand national team, South Korean club Hyundai Capital Skywalkers and Indonesian pro league champion Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi, Frigoni maintained the best is yet to come.
“We are very happy of course that we win, right? But for us it doesn’t mean anything. The trip to go to the World Championship and to go to the Asian Games is very long,” Frigoni said. “We take this as a good start. But as I know the other teams that we have to compete against, what we did today is not enough. I am very happy. I am smiling.
“I am very happy. I was supporting the team and tried to win, of course. But for us it’s very much more important what we did, not we because we won, but because we make a big step compared to the other matches that we played before,” he added.
The squad has already left for Bahrain yesterday for the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup which will begin tomorrow.
Veteran spiker Marck Espejo, along with Owa Retamar, Steven Rotter, Buds Buddin, Josh Ybanez, and Kim Malabunga will banner the flag in the week-long, 12-team tournament.
The Philippines, currently world No. 62, is grouped in Pool C with Pakistan and Taipei.
