MANILA, Philippines — THE Alas Pilipinas Boys face Australia in the classification round of the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship on Thursday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
The match is set at 3:30 p.m.
The Philippines suffered a heartbreaking reverse sweep to India last Tuesday, 25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 4-15, removing its hopes of reaching a historic quarterfinals berth.
A victory over Australia would give the Philippines its best finish of ninth place in the tournament—a loss, however, would drop them into the 11th–12th place matchup.
The Philippine team—supervised by the Philippine Olympic Committee and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission—posted a 1-2 win-loss record in Pool B with only a win over Bahrain (0-3)m and setbacks to Iran (3-0) and India (2-1).
Only the top two teams from the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals.
Australia finished winless in Pool D after bowing to Japan (3-0), Korea (2-1) and Saudi Arabia (1-2).
The Philippines defeated Australia, 25–18, 25–21, 15–25, 25–23, to claim 11th place in the 2024 edition in Bahrain. Alas head coach Oliver Balse said the team will give its 100-percent for a better finish. “The work is still not over, and we will do the best that we can in the classification match,” Balse said. “It is about discipline and having an experience since we need to learn from all of our losses. This can help the team to mature.” The Philippines finished at the bottom of the standings in both the 1997 and 1999 editions, placing eighth out of eight teams.
Alas did not participate in the U18 tournament from 2001 to 2022, before returning in 2024.
The nationals will look to bank on the prowess of Terrence Marticion and Al-Raquib Dais, who led the team’s scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively, in a loss to India.
The Philippines will need to look out for Australia’s heavy hitters Ryder Cameron-Edwards and Alex Liang, who showed up with 14 and 11 points each in a four-set defeat over Saudi Arabia. TMT
