Alas Boys sweep Australia, stay on course for historic ninth-place finish

Alas Pilipinas Boys moved a step closer to their best-ever finish in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship after sweeping Australia, 25-20, 30-28, 25-20, in the classification round on Thursday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium.

The victory kept the Philippines in contention for ninth place, improving on its previous best finish of 11th in the 2024 tournament in Bahrain.

The Filipinos were tested throughout the match, particularly in a gripping second set that featured six ties as Al-Raquib Dais and Australia's Eddie Kerwin traded points in a tense battle.

After Alex Liang committed a crucial service error, Dais hammered home a crosscourt spike to secure the extended set, 30-28, giving the Philippines a commanding two-set lead.

Riding that momentum, Alas Pilipinas controlled the third set, taking advantage of Australia's unforced errors while Dais continued to anchor the offense to complete the straight-set victory.

Australia handed the Philippines 25 points through unforced errors, while the Filipinos committed only 14.

Dais delivered a standout performance with 25 points built on 21 attacks, three blocks, and an ace, while Terrence Marticion added 11 points.

“Because we are now out of the Top 8 teams, our goal is to take the best ninth-place finish. That’s our new motivation. We need to continue working hard and raise the rankings,” said head coach Oliver Balse.

“We know that Australia is tall, so we relied on our plays to make sure that we got this win,” he added.

Kerwin paced Australia with 12 points, while Liang contributed 11.

The Philippines will next face either Kazakhstan or Hong Kong in the 9th-12th classification semifinals as it continues its bid for a historic ninth-place finish.