Alas girls move up in FIVB rankings after AVC U-16 campaign

MANILA, November 23 ------ The Alas Pilipinas Girls are now 25th in the world, according to the latest rankings released by the FIVB. This comes after the Alas girls finished fifth in the 2nd AVC Asian Women's U16 Volleyball Championship in Amman, Jordan, last week and qualified for next year's world championships.

The program leaped 17 places from No. 42. "We didn't realize that our small wins in the Asian Qualifying were that instrumental in raising our country's standing to a higher rank," said Alas U16 coach Edwin Leyva. "It just shows that the level of play here in the Philippines has improved and is slowly catching up with our top Asian counterparts."

Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon "Tats" Suzara labeled the under-16 team's achievement as "big" and stressed that the federation's grassroots program has developed in the last four years. "We are now reaping the fruits of the grassroots program that the PNVF has started four years ago," Suzara said.

The youngest national team is now the highest-ranked Philippine volleyball squad, leading Alas Women at 46th and Alas Men at 80th place. Leyva said their current ranking is "a milestone" but they are determined to keep moving forward. "Why stop dreaming? Let's train hard, play harder," he said. "We have the momentum and we are highly motivated. First, win a set or two, then work up from there. It's up to us to keep the fire burning."

Source: news.abs-cbn.com