Alas Pilipinas Men sweep Myanmar to secure fifth place in SEA V Cup opener

Alas Pilipinas closed out the opening leg of the 2026 Southeast Asian Men's V Cup on a winning note after sweeping Myanmar, 25-21, 28-26, 25-22, on Saturday at the Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur.

The victory earned the Filipinos a fifth-place finish after suffering pool-stage defeats to Cambodia and Indonesia.

The hosts struggled early and trailed 11-17 in the opening set before head coach Angiolino Frigoni's substitutions changed the complexion of the match. The second unit of Axel Van Book, Lloyd Josafat, Louie Ramirez, Al-Bukharie Sali, and Greg Ancheta ignited a stunning 14-4 run that turned the set around and gave the Philippines a 25-21 win.

That comeback shifted the momentum in favor of Alas Pilipinas, which held off Myanmar in a closely contested second set before completing the straight-set victory with another composed performance in the third.

Frigoni praised his team's development throughout the tournament, noting that the pressure of playing a classification match initially affected his young squad.

"I am proud of the improvement of the players during the competition. Today was more difficult, but it was expected, because in this match the player had something to lose. In the other match, they didn't have anything to lose. They were just playing more freely. And today we start in a very bad way. They were very tense, very afraid to make mistakes.

"But after that, we got by, slowly by slowly, with the substitution, with the players that get better on the team, we won, that's it."

Ramirez sparked the turnaround off the bench and led the team with 14 points built on 11 attacks and three blocks.

Joshua Magalaman added 12 points, including eight attacks, three blocks, and an ace, while Van Book chipped in nine points in another strong outing as a reserve.

Jude Garcia, who shifted from outside hitter to opposite during the tournament, finished with eight points. The Philippines also produced its cleanest performance of the competition, committing just 19 errors.

Kyaw Aung Myo paced Myanmar with 16 points, while Aung Ye Lin contributed 12.

The tournament now moves to Jakarta for the second leg, which will be held from July 22 to 26.