The Alas Pilipinas Women have set high expectations for the upcoming 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, with the Philippines looking for its first women's volleyball medal in 20 years.
Alas Pilipinas will be playing with high expectations when they face regional rivals in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand later this year, after finishing second in the AVC Nations Cup earlier this month.
With the Philippines not having finished on the podium in women’s volleyball since 2005 in the SEA Games, fans are clamoring for the current program to end the drought in their final taste of action in 2025.
But for Alas Pilipinas skipper Jia De Guzman, they’re wary of tripping into the pitfalls of hype.
“Of course, there’s a lot of pressure to produce more results. Lalo na ngayon na we’re reaching heights that we haven’t reached before," De Guzman said earlier this week during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
“[But] at the same time, the other teams are also preparing well for this competition. For example, Thailand. They're exposed to VNL teams right now. Vietnam is also leveling up and Indonesia, everyone, is doing their training camps now abroad so everyone is very focused now on doing their own preparations. Same as us.”
Understanding that the Philippines is still in the process of catching up to the rest of the pack, despite their current success, De Guzman believed that the team needs to continue to subscribe to the current program and not become impatient nor complacent.
With two years of optimistic results, De Guzman knows that hard work pays off — as evidenced by their program-best result in the Nations Cup in Vietnam. But their results in Thailand are yet to be determined.
Although, there is one thing that is certain: Alas Pilipinas will be fighting tooth or nail for it to happen.
“If we look at [expectations] that high agad, there's so much, the pressure, comes with it and some people react this differently [to] pressure. So for us, iyong number 1 talaga is to trust the process, trust coach's system, trust each other, and just keep showing up each day to be better," she said.
“But, of course, yes we will fight for that podium finish as we do in every tournament naman talaga," she added.
After their successful stint in the AVC Nations Cup, Alas Pilipinas are headed to Vietnam anew for the upcoming VTV Cup later this month. They will also compete in the SEA V. League later this year before ending their campaign for the year at the SEA Games.