No surprise
ANTIPOLO—Bella Belen welcomed the appointment of Angiolino Frigoni as the new Alas Pilipinas women’s volleyball coach after delivering a career-high 35 points to power Capital1 past Akari, 28-26, 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 21-19, in the PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series on Thursday at Ynares Center Antipolo.
The coaching change came as no surprise to the Alas Pilipinas mainstay, who played in last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games under two different coaches—her current Capital1 mentor Jorge de Brito and Japanese tactician Taka Minowa.
“I don’t think it would be too surprising because, as national team players, we’ve already been hearing things. Whoever gets appointed as head coach, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to learn, especially us younger players,” Belen said in Filipino.
“Whoever they choose, we’ll look at what we can learn from that coach. Of course, it won’t be easy because it means adjusting to a new system again, so we’ll have to take it step by step.”
The women’s team finished ninth in the Asian Games and again missed the podium in last year’s SEA Games.
After two years with the men’s program, highlighted by the Filipino spikers’ historic World Championship appearance and bronze-medal finish in the Thailand SEA Games last year, Frigoni will now steer the women’s squad as it prepares to host the FIVB Women’s World Championship in 2029.
The Philippine National Volleyball Federation, led by president Frank Lao, also brought back Dante Alinsunurin as men’s coach, seven years after he guided the team to a historic silver medal in the 2019 SEA Games in Manila.
With the world-class Italian tactician taking over, Belen is eager to learn from Frigoni but hopes the coaching change will also bring much-needed continuity to the national team program.
“I’m just excited to see what he can add to the team and how he can build on what the national team program has already established. I’m looking forward to seeing how this next step turns out,” Belen said.
“I think one thing our national team has been lacking is continuity. We usually train together only when there’s an upcoming tournament or league, and that’s where other countries have an advantage over us. They’ve been playing together for a long time, while our system sometimes changes.”
“I feel that having a continuous program would really help build the national team. It would give us a clearer idea of how the team will be managed and what comes next for the program after the Asian Games.”
Amid the national team shakeup, Belen remains focused on her professional career, helping the Solar Spikers improve to 1-1.
The reigning top rookie unloaded 34 kills and a block while adding 20 digs and 19 excellent receptions, surpassing her previous career highs of 29 points in UAAP Season 85 in 2023 and 28 in last season’s PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Rookie libero Detdet Pepito also delivered in the clutch, coming up with crucial saves on Fifi Sharma’s final two attacks to set the stage for Belen’s late-game heroics.
The No. 2 overall pick finished with 24 digs.
Erika Santos, Vanie Gandler and Cherry Nunag chipped in 10 points each, while Pauline Gaston added nine. Setter Julia Coronel directed the offense with 29 excellent sets.
Akari, meanwhile, remained winless at 0-2 despite a 20-point effort from Sharma.
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