Alas Pilipinas Men coach Angiolino Frigoni unhappy with team despite win over Myanmar

Alas Pilipinas Men kicked off their 2025 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) volleyball campaign in style, securing a 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 victory over Myanmar in their opener.

Despite the win, head coach Angiolino Frigoni was far from satisfied, highlighting fundamental errors, shaky defense, and conditioning issues that could prove costly in the coming matches.

“We have to change something. We didn’t serve well, we didn’t defend. Some players were not in very good condition yet. I hope that we will get them in condition for the next match. To us, after we resolved a little of these problems, it was enough to win this match. Next match, I don’t know,” Frigoni said during the post-match press conference.

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The Italian tactician’s concerns were reflected in the numbers: Alas Pilipinas Men committed 23 unforced errors across three sets — eight in the first, nine in the second, and six in the third. Myanmar’s clever play and precise placement shots only added to Frigoni’s frustrations, despite the Philippines’ triumph.

Alas coach Angiolino Frigoni after a winning debut in the #SEAGAMES2025

He also thanked the Filipino fans who cheered for them.

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“We have to defend more and add weight to the block and the timing of the block. They made too many block-outs,” he added.

Even so, Frigoni saw encouraging signs in his squad’s performance and remains hopeful the team can build consistency as the tournament progresses.

“What we did in the last part of the first set is what we normally do. For our defense and counter-attacks, it’s normally good, but today, no,” he concluded.

With the victory, the Philippines have already secured a semifinal berth in the men’s volleyball competition with one game remaining in the group stage. Their final group match against Indonesia on Tuesday, December 16, will determine final seedings, with the top two teams from Group B set to face either Vietnam or Thailand in the knockout stage.

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