As team captain, Alas Pilipinas’ Jia De Guzman had the best view to the hard work of the national team, which hit another milestone with a silver medal in the AVC Nations Cup.
Alas Pilipinas captain Jia De Guzman beamed with pride as the team secured another podium finish in the AVC Nations Cup, this time improving to silver and second only to three-time champions Vietnam after the finale on Saturday.
A long-time stalwart in the national team, De Guzman has been part of many phases of Alas Pilipinas.
Now, De Guzman is happy to see that results are finally coming around for the team — with the silver finish in Vietnam being the country's best in an AVC tournament.
[READ: Alas Pilipinas take historic silver as Vietnam completes AVC Nations Cup 3-peat]
Being the leader of the team, De Guzman said that the results are proof that the system is working and growing for the better.
“It means everything, honestly, because it’s hard to see rin yung growth ng sport, growth ng team namin without the results. I mean, grabe yung silver, as in, we did not expect to get a silver coming into this tournament. We just knew that we had to give our best,” De Guzman said.
“Kasi last year, bronze yung nakuha natin ngayon biglang silver. Mas nakaka-inspire lang talaga to go back to training and keep working together as a team and to keep going for this long term program. Kasi slowly but surely, umaangat tayo as a country sa volleyball. So I’m really proud of the team.”
Apart from the historic silver medal, which was also the country's first women's volleyball silver since the 1997 SEA Games, Alas Pilipinas also succeeded in individual fields as well — with a total of three players in the Mythical Team.
[ALSO READ: Alas Pilipinas captain Jia De Guzman repeats as AVC Nations Cup Best Setter]
De Guzman herself went back-to-back as Best Setter in the AVC Nations Cup, while last year’s Best Opposite Spiker Angel Canino followed it up with a Best Outside Hitter award this time around.
Middle Blocker Dell Palomata, meanwhile, had a breakthrough tournament and was also named one of the tournament’s Best Middle Blockers.
For De Guzman, if it was up to her, all of Alas would have gotten an award.
“Yeah, sobrang deserve talaga ni Angel, ni Dell, actually kung pwede nga lahat mabigyan ng award talaga. As in. Everyone worked so hard in training. Kahit nung hindi pa kami nagt-training together, everyone was just really preparing for this national team period,” said De Guzman.
“Nakikita naman ngayon na we’re really just trying to find our rhythm together as a team and it’s only the first tournament. Marami po kaming tao sa pool na gusto magpakitang gilas so see you guys in the next tournament,” she added.
After their historic outing in the AVC Nations Cup, Alas Pilipinas are expected to keep on competing in Vietnam in the upcoming 2025 VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup.
Alas joins seven other teams — including Vietnam’s senior and U21 team — in the tournament that also features some club teams. They are in Pool A with hosts Vietnam, China’s Sichuan Wuliangchun, and Australia.
(With reports from Mei-Lin Lozada)