ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Volleyball devider Bella Belen stars as Alas Women punch finals ticket, hike FIVB rankings

Bella Belen stars as Alas Women punch finals ticket, hike FIVB rankings

Published Jun 14, 2025 04:06 am

At A Glance

  • The Nationals displayed nerves of steel and carved out a hard-fought 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 15-13 escape over Chinese Taipei to book their first-ever finals berth in the 2025 AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup at the Dong Anh Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday evening, June 13.
It was another historic moment for the Alas Pilipinas women’s team.
The Nationals displayed nerves of steel and carved out a hard-fought 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 15-13 escape over Chinese Taipei to book their first-ever finals berth in the 2025 AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup at the Dong Anh Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday evening, June 13.
With its victory, the Philippines arranged a title duel and its first shot at gold in 64 years against the three-peat seeking Vietnam this Saturday, June 14, at the same venue.
It likewise propelled the Philippines from No. 56 to 46 in the FIVB rankings after also drawing strength from wins over Mongolia, New Zealand and Kazakhstan in the tournament.
The win was the Nationals' fifth in six games, losing only once to Iran in five sets in Pool B where the former secured the top spot with a 4-1 win-loss record.
The triumphant run gave the Jia De Guzman-led group an assured silver medal, or if things turn their way a gold against the hostile home crowd.
On the other hand, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan battle it out for bronze.
In front of a flock of Filipinos inside the venue, Bella Belen starred for the Jorge de Brito-mentored crew after listing 15 points off 11 kills and four blocks. She scored the game-clinching point from >>>a successful block touch challenge, with the team and the fans erupting in celebration after the final call.
Like in their UAAP days, Belen’s fellow former National Lady Bulldog Alyssa Solomon backed her up with 12 points built on nine attacks, two blocks and one ace, while collegiate stars Angel Canino and Shai Nitura added nine and five points, respectively.
Shining the most in the crunch time was Eya Laure who finished with nine points, five of which in the fifth set, just as Jia De Guzman orchestrated the offensive end.
It was a fitting win for the Philippines after its three-set romp of Kazakhstan on the country’s Independence Day last Thursday to advance to the semis.
Chieh Chen paced Chinese Taipei after posting 19 points with Shuang Ling Liu and Yi-Chi Chang conspiring for 31 points which all went down the drain.
Yi-Jen Liao also shone for the Taiwanese hitters with her superb playmaking but it wasn’t enough to save Chinese Taipei over the gritty Filipina side.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.