ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Volleyball devider Solomon, Valdez deliver but Alas Women fall to Aussies in five-set thriller

Solomon, Valdez deliver but Alas Women fall to Aussies in five-set thriller

Published Jun 7, 2026 06:18 pm

At A Glance

  • ‎CANDON CITY — Alyssa Solomon sparked an epic second-set comeback, Alyssa Valdez took control down the stretch, but Alas Pilipinas still fell short against a gritty Australian side, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-25, 11-15, for its first loss in the 2026 AVC Women's Volleyball Cup here at the Candon City Arena.
Alyssa Solomon puts up a gallant effort but Alas Pilipinas falls short to Australia. (AVC)
Alyssa Solomon puts up a gallant effort but Alas Pilipinas falls short to Australia. (AVC)
‎CANDON CITY — Alyssa Solomon sparked an epic second-set comeback, Alyssa Valdez took control down the stretch, but Alas Pilipinas still fell short against a gritty Australian side, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-25, 11-15, for its first loss in the 2026 AVC Women's Volleyball Cup here at the Candon City Arena.
In front of thousands of Ilocano and local fans, the Nationals completed an epic second-set comeback sparked by Solomon before they took a 2-1 lead in the third.
However, the Australians had other plans as they leaned on Caitlin Bettenay O’Dea to force a fifth set.
From there, Solomon and Valdez connived down the stretch to overcome a 4-7 deficit, but it was the Aussies who solved the puzzle early with their all-out offense while also exploiting the miscues of the Filipinas, including one crucial error by Royse Tubino.
‎The Philippines must regroup immediately when it guns for a bounce back victory against the winless Kyrgyzstan (0-2) this Monday, June 8, at the same venue. Australia, for its next game, challenges Chinese Taipei.
With its loss to Australia, the host country needs to win – better in straight sets – its next three games to boost its chances of advancing to the next round.
The Shaq Delos Santos-mentored crew’s other two oppositions in the eliminations are South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
O’Dea powered the visitors with 17 points on 14 attacks and three blocks, while Lara Maric posted 16 points. Ella Schabort, Anni Tang, and Chloe Walker combined for 32 points.
Solomon, who missed Alas’ opening win over Uzbekistan, took the spotlight after logging 23 points off 22 spikes and one block, while Niña Ytang and skipper Valdez added 13 and 11 points, respectively, in a losing cause.
Other veterans Jovelyn Gonzaga and Ces Molina struggled offensively with just three points apiece. Thea Gagate and Tubino stepped up with seven and six points.

Related Tags

Alas Pilipinas Alyssa Valdez Alyssa Solomon Australia 2026 AVC Women\'s Volleyball Cup
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.