Alas Pilipinas routs Mongolia for 2nd straight Asian Games win

MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas picked up its second consecutive win after taking down Mongolia in straight sets, 25-13, 25-11, 25-20, in the classification round of the 2026 Asian Games on Monday night in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The Philippine women’s national volleyball team was already out of medal contention but remained determined to finish strong and secure ninth place. Angel Canino proved to be a consistent scorer for Alas with 14 points, along with nine excellent digs, while Alyssa Solomon and Bella Belen chipped in 12 and 11 markers, respectively. Alas dropped its earlier matches to defending champion China and a tall Kazakhstan squad in Pool B, forcing the nationals into the classification stage. The Philippines did not send a volleyball team to the 2022 Hangzhou Games, while the 2018 Jakarta squad placed eighth. In that 2018 campaign, the Philippines won only one of its seven games, with its sole victory coming against Hong Kong. Head coach Taka Minowa emphasized that this Asian Games stint is all about the squad's growth and progress. “If in the previous time they won only just one game, if we won twice that is already a win and an improvement for us,” he said.