Alas Girls qualify for 2026 FIVB U17 World Championship

November 10 ------ JUST like the men’s and women’s teams, Alas Pilipinas Girls will also be bound for the world stage soon. The Philippines’ Under-16 girls’ volleyball national team routed Thailand, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, to finish fifth in the 2025 AVC Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship.

That top five run in the continental meet landed Alas Girls the last Asian seat in the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship in Santiago, Chile from August 5 to 16. Comprising the Asian delegation are Korea, Chinese Taipei, Japan and reigning world champion China.

National team captain Xyz Rayco capped her international debut with a staggering 30-piece built on 25 attacks, four blocks and one ace. The 14-year-old opposite hitter, hailing from the Saint Michael College of Caraga Junior High School in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, also emerged as the tournament’s fifth top scorer with 112 points. “I’m inspired because I’m still young, but I’ve already come this far, and I know there’s still a higher level waiting for me,” said Rayco. “In the third set, we started to feel down, but in the fourth, we didn’t let it happen again because we didn’t want a repeat of our last game.”

Alas Girls head coach Edwin Leyva took pride in earning a once-in-a-lifetime chance to represent the Philippines on the world stage in the highest tier of junior volleyball. “We only had two weeks to prepare, and at first, we were just a ragtag team but we took it one set at a time and now our dream has come true,” Leyva said. “That’s really the icing on the cake.”

Source: spin.ph