ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Volleyball devider China opens strong as Alas Pilipinas blows hot and cold

China opens strong as Alas Pilipinas blows hot and cold

Published Aug 7, 2026 04:43 pm

At A Glance

  • SAN FELIPE, Chile — China lit up the opening match with a dominant performance, while the Philippines managed brief bursts of resistance before fading, 25-18, 25-21, 25-13, on Thursday, Aug. 6, in the FIVB Volleyball Girls U17 World Championship.
Alas Pilipinas (AVC)
Alas Pilipinas (AVC)
SAN FELIPE, Chile — China lit up the opening match with a dominant performance, while the Philippines managed brief bursts of resistance before fading, 25-18, 25-21, 25-13, on Thursday, Aug. 6, in the FIVB Volleyball Girls U17 World Championship.
It was a strong start, as expected, for the Chinese, winners of the U17 two years ago but are coming off a third-place finish in the 2025 Asian Women's U16 Volleyball Championship.
Yachen Xuan, China's 15-year-old skipper, came up with four blocks, matching the Philippines' total and underscoring the titleholders' size advantage. Ruihan Chen tallied 12 points on 10 attacks and two blocks, while Sichen Ren added 11 from eight attacks, two blocks and an ace.
Although Alas Pilipinas blew hot and cold, the match was a revelation for the coaches as it showcased the team's raw firepower and exposed its defensive flaws.
Caera Celis delivered a breakthrough debut with Alas Pilipinas, unleashing rocket serves and smartly scoring off China's wall of blockers to finish with 13 points on 12 attacks and an ace.
Khaira Manzano also provided highlights, pulling off two solo kill blocks for half of the Philippines' total, while scoring on an attack and an ace.
"Losses are part of competition, we have a lot of games to play, babawi po kami bukas," Celis said.
Alas Pilipinas, supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and Asics, takes on Mexico on Friday and Tunisia on Saturday before getting a day off on Sunday.
The Philippines' shaky reception set off a domino effect, poor passes leading to awkward sets and ultimately inefficient hitting.
Xyz Rayco, the Philippines' top scorer in the Asian U16, wound up as one of the steadier passers in the match, while also delivering seven points, all on attacks.
Alas Pilipinas coach Edwin Leyva admitted the performance was far from polished, and stressed it was a valuable learning experience.
"China is a very strong team, we can't control that. We were poor on defense, that we can control. So we have to focus on that during training," Leyva said.
"Aside from that, it's the attitude of carrying the weight of an error to the next play. We hope they learn to reset quickly, move on and focus on the positives."
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; } }

{{ static_articles_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.