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Alas Pilipinas captain Jia de Guzman. Photo from Joaqui Flores/Premier Volleyball League

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95419b3c57800fca41277b1cc876e844

Kennedy Caacbay

ABS-CBN News

<div style="text-align:left"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171675940674995419b3c57800fca41277b1cc876e844.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Alas Pilipinas captain Jia de Guzman. <em>Photo from Joaqui Flores/Premier Volleyball League</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA – (UPDATED) Alas Pilipinas players have commended Jia de Guzman&#x27;s leadership as the Philippines paraded towards the semifinal round of the the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup.</p><p>From their first match in Pool A up to the last on Sunday, national team members have praised De Guzman&#x27;s ability to take charge — a sentiment echoed starting from Angel Canino and coach Jorge de Brito after their game against Australia in Day 1 of the tournament.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/23/alas-pilipinas-triumphant-in-first-assignment-in-avc-challenge-cup-1946"><strong>READ: Volleyball: Alas Pilipinas triumphant in first assignment in AVC Challenge Cup</strong></a></div><p>Despite limited time for preparation, Canino said the star setter is one of the reasons why Alas has teamwork.</p><p>&quot;Maikli lang &#x27;yung time, &#x27;yung preparation namin pero nagawa namin &#x27;to which is led by coaches and Ate Jia [de Guzman] talaga. And ayun, nakakatuwa lang din kasi fina-follow namin si Ate Jia and &#x27;yung coaches that&#x27;s why meron kaming teamwork,&quot; the De La Salle University standout said after a 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-21 triumph over Australia on Thursday.</p><p> De Brito asserted that the decorated playmaker is the &quot;best&quot; setter right now in the tourney due to her rich experience overseas with Denso Airybees.</p><p> &quot;Everybody in this gym, also the opponents know that she&#x27;s the best setter. She&#x27;s one of the best setters we have. She already played outside the country and she&#x27;s been leading one team, winning and winning for years, so she has this capacity to lead some young guys,&quot; De Brito said of De Guzman.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171675933910720240523-avc-ph-aus-MD-11.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Team captain Jia de Guzman dives for the ball in Alas Pilipinas&#x27; battle against Australia in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on May 23, 2024. <em>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/24/avc-challenge-cup-alas-pilipinas-ends-india-s-winning-run-1833"><strong>READ: AVC Challenge Cup: Alas Pilipinas ends India&#x27;s winning run</strong></a></div><p>Former Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Sisi Rondina also commended De Guzman&#x27;s guidance on Saturday.</p><p>This was the time when the Philippines defeated Iran to clinch a spot in the semis.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/25/avc-challenge-cup-alas-pilipinas-clinches-semis-spot-in-rout-of-iran-1813"><strong>READ: AVC Challenge Cup: Alas Pilipinas clinches semis spot in rout of Iran</strong></a></div><p>&quot;Alam niyo, na-amaze ako sa mga teammates namin ngayon kasi ang bilis mag-adjust and parang pare-pareho lang kami talaga ng role. Kung ano &#x27;yung kailangan gawin, pinupunan. And which is, ang bilis na rin maka-adjust. Lalong-lalo na led by Ate Jia kaya ayun, thankful ako sa kanila kasi sobrang napapadali yung trabaho namin,&quot; said Rondina after a 25-16, 25-13, 25-15 sweep of Iranians.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/26/semis-bound-alas-pilipinas-sweeps-pool-a-of-avc-challenge-cup-1854"><strong>READ: Semis-bound Alas Pilipinas sweeps Pool A of AVC Challenge Cup</strong></a></div><p>For Faith Nisperos, playing with the eight-time PVL Best Setter was a huge confidence boost.</p><p>&quot;It is definitely a one-time experience na nakasama ko si Ate Jia inside the court and her calling me was malaking bagay for me kasi talagang pinakita na may tiwala siya sa akin,&quot; the Akari mainstay said after a 25-13, 25-21, 25-18 victory over Chinese Taipei.</p><p>&quot;If may tiwala siya sa akin, siyempre ako din dapat magtiwala sa sarili ko,&quot; she went on.</p><p>Nisperos cracked the starting lineup against Chinese Taipei and added nine for the Alas scoring.</p><p>In addition to Alas members&#x27; commendations, former national team ace Jaja Santiago also acknowledged on Sunday De Guzman&#x27;s ability to glue the team together, especially inside the court, adding that the former Creamline Cool Smasher &quot;leads the team really well.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Actually, I don&#x27;t know how to react to their chemistry right now. Katulad nga ng sabi ko kanina, in a short of time, their connection is really strong immediately. And I think, one of the reasons also, Jia leads the team really well and I think that&#x27;s one of the good things now na meron nagli-lead sa kanila sa loob ng court and [they] really follow,&quot; Santiago said.</p><p>The national team had a combined 188 attack points across four matches in the preliminary round, which could be attributed to De Guzman&#x27;s playmaking prowess on the taraflex as the main setter.</p><p>Alas Pilipinas will try to prove that their Pool A sweep is not a fluke as they take on Kazakhstan on Tuesday in a do-or-die match in the semis.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LxzUNG_YZdo??si=s-uObb-CyMBAeqzx&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

Alas Pilipinas members commend Jia de Guzman's leadership as PH enters AVC Challenge Cup semis

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Alas Pilipinas members commend Jia de Guzman's leadership as PH enters AVC Challenge Cup semis

Kennedy Caacbay,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 27, 2024 06:22 AM PHT

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Updated May 27, 2024 12:43 PM PHT

Read More:

abssports

volleyball

women's volleyball

2024 AVC Challenge Cup

Jia de Guzman

Angel Canino

Sisi Rondina

Thea Gagate

Jorge de Brito

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