Alas Pilipinas U18 falls to unbeaten Iran, eyes redemption on Asian Youth Games bronze

Despite an early surge, Alas Pilipinas U18 squad saw their fire extinguished at the hands of Iran, 28-26, 18-25, 19-25, 18-25, and seeing their gold bid snap during the 2025 Asian Youth Games girls volleyball tournament, at the Isa Sports City in Riffa, Bahrain, Oct. 28.

The loss booted the Philippines out of golden bid contention, as Iran proved steadier down the stretch with consistent attack from both wings to keep their tournament record with only two sets lost.

Rhose Almendralejo and Sam Cantada proved to be the core of Alas’ offense as they combined for a 39-point scoring spree, but it still wasn’t enough to tow the national team from the jaws of defeat.

Plagued by a shaky start, Alas Pilipinas came alive midway in the opening salvo, backed by an 8-0 run, 22-17, but a gritty Iran downed four points to incite a deuce, where open hitter Almendralejo took matters in her own hands to sink in two consecutive spikes to take the first set.

Tables turned in the second canto as continuous errors proved too costly for Alas, 10-16, which swelled to a big seven-point deficit by the end of the set that gave Iran a much-needed equalizer.

The white-clad Iranians dictated the tempo from thereon, taking the last two sets as meltdown caught up to the beleaguered Filipino team to book a finals appearance against Indonesia.

Ayda Valinezhad flaunted composure for Iran with 18 points, paired with Laya Afzouni’s 17 to whittle down any means for Alas to bounce back.

Though even before their semis demise, team Philippines had flashes of brilliance in their preliminary rounds that led to the buildup against Iran.

After a rough patch against Thailand in their opening game, Alas lashed their ire on Hong Kong and China with back-to-back sweeps to finish with a second-place finish at Pool F in the classification round and seal a spot in the quarterfinals.

Alas Pilipinas didn’t lift their foot off the gas from there as they thumped Chinese Taipei in four sets, 25-15, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18, inching closer to a coveted gold podium finish.

This year’s edition of the Asian Youth Games marks an awaited return with its decade-long hiatus since 2013, expanding to multiple sports such as volleyball after years of postponement caused by organizational hurdles and the Pandemic.

Alas Pilipinas now looks to recoup and redeem themselves in their battle for the bronze medal match against prelim nemesis Thailand on Oct. 29, in the same venue.

With reports from Rappler