Team captain Jia De Guzman, Bella Belen, and Dell Palomata join Angel Canino as the Alas Pilipinas standouts so far at the 2025 AVC Women’s Nations Cup.
From offense to defense, Angel Canino has done it all for Alas Pilipinas.
Canino emerged not just as the team’s top performer, but as one of the tournament’s most complete players — finishing in the top 10 of four major statistical categories while helping lead the Philippines into the AVC Women’s Nations Cup semifinals.
The former UAAP Rookie-MVP ranked fifth in scoring with 61 points, trailing only Indonesia’s Ersandrina Salsabila (96), Mongolia’s Saruulgerel Ganbaatar (68), Iran’s Masoumeh Ghadami (65), and Indonesia’s Anagha Radhakrishnan (63).
Canino also placed sixth in attacks (10.2 per game, 51 in total), joint fifth in the service department (1.0 per contest), and eighth in digs (39 in total, 67.24% success rate).
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But she wasn’t alone in delivering big numbers for Alas.
Team captain Jia de Guzman ranked third in setting with 24 excellent sets or 4.8 per outing, behind only Mongolia’s Anujin Dayandor (6.6) and Chinese Taipei’s Yi-Jen Liao (6.25).
The six-time PVL champion is also tied for ninth in digs with Alas teammate Dawn Macandili-Catindig, each recording a total of 37 or 7.4 per match.
[ALSO READ: Setter showdown looms as Chinese Taipei brace for Jia De Guzman, Alas Pilipinas in AVC semis]
Vanie Gandler and Alyssa Solomon were joint fourth in the best server category, tallying six each (1.2 per match), while two-time UAAP champion and MVP Bella Belen placed seventh in receptions with 5.6 per match on a 35.9% efficiency rate.
Joining Belen inside the top 10 is Jen Nierva, who amassed 24 successful receptions so far on a 34.21% clip.
Meanwhile, Dell Palomata anchored the frontline with 11 total blocks (2.2 per match), good for fourth overall.
These contributions fueled Alas Pilipinas’ 3-1 Pool B run, capped by a dominant sweep of Kazakhstan to clinch the top seed entering the semifinals.
[ALSO READ: AVC: Jia De Guzman proud as Alas Pilipinas deliver Independence Day win over Kazakhstan]
The Philippines will face a familiar foe in Chinese Taipei — a team Alas Women swept in last year’s AVC Challenge Cup in Manila — for a spot in the gold medal round tonight, June 13 at 9:00 p.m.
A win puts Alas in the gold medal match, where they will face either two-time champion Vietnam or a vengeful Kazakhstan squad.