Team captain Jia De Guzman is once again the Best Setter in the AVC Nations Cup after a historic silver-medal finish for Alas Pilipinas.
Jia De Guzman was once again named as the Best Setter at the AVC Nations Cup, steering Alas Pilipinas to a program-best silver medal finish after Saturday's finale against host Vietnam.
De Guzman nabbed the award after playing through with tremendous efficiency, attempting a total of 676 sets and committing just three faults. She also had a total of 24 running sets across all games.
Her playmaking proved pivotal for Alas’ offense, with a deep arsenal of hitters flanking the national team.
Despite multiple stars having to share the ball, De Guzman was able to distribute the chances well across her hitters, which featured high-power spikers like Angel Canino, Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Eya Laure, and Vanie Gandler.
Not only that, De Guzman was also able to activate her middles — with the likes of Dell Palomata, Fifi Sharma, and Thea Gagate impacting Alas’ offense along with the wing spikers.
More than her playmaking though, De Guzman’s impact on Alas Pilipinas also came through her leadership.
As the most veteran player on the team, De Guzman was able to weather the storm for the young national team stars even as they had to endure a stinging loss to Iran earlier this week, and survived a gritty five-setter against Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
De Guzman thus nabbed back-to-back Best Setter awards in the AVC Nations Cup tournament, following last year's breakthrough bronze finish.