Alas U16 girls jump 17 spots to No. 25 in FIVB world rankings

MANILA, Philippines — THE Alas Pilipinas girls' under-16 team rose to world No.25 in the latest FIVB Girls’ U17 rankings after qualifying for next year’s world championship in Santiago, Chile.Alas jumped 17 spots from world No. 42 after finishing fifth in the 2nd Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship in Amman, Jordan, last week.The program started ranked No.57.“Awesome leap from 57 to 25! We didn’t realize that our small wins in the Asian Qualifying were that instrumental in raising our country’s standing to a higher rank,” said Alas U16 coach Edwin Leyva. “It just shows that the level of play here in the Philippines has improved and is slowly catching up with our top Asian counterparts.” Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara labeled the under-16 team’s achievement as “big” and stressed that the federation’s grassroots program has developed in the last four years.“We are now reaping the fruits of the grassroots program that the PNVF has started four years ago,” Suzara said.The PNVF was established in post-pandemic 2021 and has since nurtured the growth of volleyball—Alas Pilipinas Men and Women making impacts in the world and Asian levels, the country hosting the world championship for men and for Suzara, his election as president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and appointment as executive vice president of the FIVB.The youngest national team is now the highest-ranked Philippine volleyball squad, leading Alas Women at 46th and Alas Men at 80th place.Leyva said that despite the achievement, the work doesn’t cease.“Being in the top 25 is already a milestone. Why stop dreaming? Let’s train hard, play harder!” Leyva said. “We have the momentum and we are highly motivated. First, win a set or two, then work up from there. It’s up to us to keep the fire burning.” The Philippine U16 team earned 14 ranking points after a 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22 victory over Thailand to secure the last Asian ticket to the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship.China had qualified automatically as defending world champion even before the Final Four, while the other Asian representatives for the world meet are newly crowned AVC U16 champion South Korea, runner-up Chinese Taipei, and fourth placer Japan. The Philippines, against all odds, earned its rightful place among them.The world championship in the capital Santiago are set August 5 to 16. TMT