The Alas Pilipinas under-16 team. Handout/Volleyball Philippines
MANILA -- Alas Pilipinas completed a straight-sets victory over Iran, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22, to advance to the next round of the 2nd AVC Asian Women's U16 Volleyball Championship, early Monday morning at the Princess Sumaya Hall in Amman, Jordan.
Xyz Rayco took charge down the stretch in the final two sets to send the Alas girls to the quarterfinals in their first international tournament together.
The 14-year-old Rayco, who studies at Saint Michael College of Caraga, topscored with 13 points off nine kills, three blocks, and an ace to bounce back from a four-set defeat to defending champion Japan.
"I'm really happy because we didn't expect this. Iran is such a strong team, but we still found a way to win," Rayco said. "We just kept a positive mindset on the court. Whatever we could do, we gave it our all."
Besides Rayco, Madele Gale rose to the occasion with nine points including the game-winning joust. Nadeth Herbon and Merish Beltran contributed with seven and six points, respectively.
Resty Jane Olaguir dedicated the win to the Alas Under-18 team, which fell to Iran in the Asian Youth Games semifinal in Bahrain last week.
"We did our best because we want to win it for our under-18 team and we want to secure a spot to the next round," Olaguir said a day after she impressed Japan's head coach.
READ: Alas Girls put up gallant stand in loss to Japan
The Philippines' placing in the next round depends on the result of the last Pool B game between Japan and Iran on Monday, with the former going for a group sweep.
Alas will face either the Pool D's top seed or second seed, which will be disputed between unbeaten teams Thailand and Chinese Taipei also on Monday.
"We were hoping to at least take a set against Iran, and we started off with a good score. We just told ourselves to take it one set at a time. And it worked," said Alas U16 coach Edwin Leyva. "From the first set to the second, we kept the momentum going. We honestly didn't expect to win in straight sets because Iran is a strong and tall team."
Now that they are in the quarterfinal, Alas seeks to make a dream run.
"The other teams are really good, but they're definitely beatable. We just have to come up with the right game plan and strategies to outsmart their style of play," Leyva said.