The Alas Pilipinas women's national volleyball team in the AVC Women's Nations Cup in Hanoi, Vietnam. Handout/AVC
MANILA -- Alas Pilipinas captain Jia de Guzman on Sunday expressed her pride in the steps that the Philippine women's national volleyball team took to reach the podium of the AVC Women's Nations Cup 2025.
The Philippines made history on Saturday night with their silver medal in the competition, having reached the final of an Asian-level tournament for the first time in 64 years. It was also the first time they played for a championship since the 1997 Southeast Asian Games.
READ: PH clinches breakthrough 2nd place finish in AVC Women's Nations Cup
For de Guzman, who earned Best Setter honors in the tournament, the latest feather in their cap is the result of their trust in the process and the daily grind that goes unnoticed.
"It takes time and loads of patience to build a culture that focuses more on the journey and growth over immediate results," de Guzman said in an Instagram post, a day after their three-set loss to host nation Vietnam in the final.
"Where other people only see wins or losses, achievements or failures, perfection or mistakes, we see all of it as necessary parts of the process of becoming a better team," she added. "This is what 'gaining experience as a team' means."
"This is why we try to keep the same players, and also add more to the pool."
"When we make the mistake of putting all the weight on a 'game win' or 'historic feat' to count a day or tournament as successful, it's easy to be blind to the progress, small wins, and experience that was actually achieved," de Guzman also said.
"But when we truly live in the moment and give full respect to the process, we learn the most and the results will eventually follow," she stressed.
The results indeed spoke for themselves in Alas Pilipinas' campaign in the Nations Cup, where they displayed impressive grit particularly in the semifinals. Despite allowing Chinese Taipei to force a decider, the Philippines came through with a clutch performance to barge into the championship.
Though they ran out of steam against defending champions Vietnam in the gold medal game, the tournament was still a showcase of the squad's development and de Guzman beamed with pride as she reflected on how much they have improved.
"I can't fully express how proud and inspired I am to witness each member of this team grow everyday as athletes and coaches," she said. "Thank you for continuing to show up and give your best even when things get hard."
Meanwhile, head coach Jorge Souza de Brito believes that their results in Hanoi showed that Alas Pilipinas is "on the way."
"It's a process. With the full support of the federation, there are really good players that you have to develop and the group will become stronger and stronger year after year," he said. "I'm sure of it. It's a process you have to go through."
Aside from de Guzman, also earning individual awards were Angel Canino (Best Outside Spiker) and Dell Palomata (Best Middle Blocker).
READ: Canino, De Guzman, Palomata win individual awards in Nations Cup