As the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women kicks off, all eyes are on the newly-formed Philippine women’s national team, Alas Pilipinas, as they prepare for a challenging debut.
A critical question loomed over the team until recently: who would fill the role of the opposite hitter?
Among the 14 players named in the squad, 19-year-old Arah Panique stands out as the sole natural opposite hitter, marking her first appearance on the national stage.
Confirming this on the eve of the matchup, outgoing head coach Jorge Souza De Brito, an Olympic gold medalist for Brazil, disclosed that Angel Canino and Faith Nisperos would also be taking on the opposite position during the tournament.
“We don’t have opposites in the squad, so we had to try all the girls that we have,” De Brito explained. “Arah is the only one who’s really an opposite spiker, but there are other girls who have the background and played opposite before.”
De Brito mentioned that both Faith Nisperos and Angel Canino have experience playing as opposites, with Nisperos having done so at Ateneo and Canino earlier in her career. “We’re trying to adjust,” he continued. “That’s what we need here in the Philippines. Since the players are already there and we have good players, we’ll go and try to fix this.”
Alas Pilipinas faces a formidable challenge in their opening match against a taller Australian squad at 7 p.m. tonight at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Volleyroos demonstrated their prowess at the net in their first game against Chinese Taipei, tallying 18 blocks compared to their opponent’s one. Despite a shaky start, Australia recovered to win in four sets, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-18.
De Brito anticipates a tougher contest against Australia. “I think the first day is always hard,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll play much better tomorrow because the first day is always hard. They made a lot of mistakes and lost the first set, but it will be a different game for sure.”
The memory of the last encounter between the Philippines and Australia in 2022, during the AVC Cup, lingers.
The Philippines, represented by the Premier Volleyball League champions Creamline, triumphed in a thrilling five-set match, 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-15, 15-12, fueled by a fervent home crowd at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Australia’s head coach, Russell Borgeaud, remains cautious despite his team’s recent victory.
“All we can do is our best on a given day. We’ll give our best and if it’s good enough to win, we’ll take that, but we don’t know the Philippines,” Borgeaud said. “The last time we played them, they were very strong, and we lost in five sets. It’s going to be a very tough match and a very good match.”
Borgeaud fondly recalls the enthusiastic Philippine crowd from 2022.
“The Philippines is always excellent. We love coming here, the people are so friendly, and the crowd was just fantastic even though they cheered for the other team. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night too.”
With an average height of 5-foot-10, Borgeaud hopes to leverage his team’s height advantage against the Philippines, who average 5-foot-8. Emphasizing both blocking and attacking, he said,
“We need to be good in our blocking; that’s an important skill for us. But also in attacks, we need to use our height, of course, hit hard but also high so it’s more difficult for the blockers. We need to use that advantage.”
