Xyz Rayco and Nadeth Herbon embraced the lessons after Alas Pilipinas girls’ loss to defending champion Japan in the 2nd AVC Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship.
Rayco and Herbon impressed in their international debut with nine points each, powering Alas’ impressive showing before yielding to powerhouse Japan, 17-25, 25-21, 16-25, 20-25, in Pool B on Saturday at Princess Sumaya Hall here. Xyz Rayco and Nadeth Herbon, who led Alas U16’s gallant stand against Japan with nine points each, talk about their Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship debut. @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/YSe01fRXqv
– Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) November 1, 2025
‘Losing doesn’t mean it’s over for us. We learned a lot from this game, and we also figured out what we need to improve on for the next one,’ Rayco told the Inquirer in Filipino.
After a slow start in the opening set, the 14-year-old opposite hitter and team captain shrugged off the jitters and fired seven of her nine points in the second set to equalize the match.
‘We’re keeping a positive mindset because we know they’re the defending champions, but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight. We play with heart and we carry our country with us every time we step on the court,’ said Rayco, who is from Nasipit, Agusan Del Norte.
Herbon, an outside spiker from Leyte National High School, soaked in all the lessons as they try to reach the quarterfinal in a crucial duel against Iran on Sunday at 11 p.m. (Philippine time).
‘Japan is really strong, but it’s a lesson learned for us,’ said Herbon. ‘They’re the defending champions, that’s already a given, but we’ll still fight for the Philippines.’ Herbon also wants to win against Iran, the country that took down the Alas U-18 team in the Asian Youth Games semifinal in Bahrain and eventually won the crown.
‘We’ll win this one for the U18 team,’ she said.
Rayco, a proud stalwart of Saint Michael College of Caraga, relished the opportunity to compete internationally with other high school students from different provinces.
‘It means a lot because we all came from different schools. Back in a tournament in Tacloban, we were rivals, but now we’re playing as one team, representing the Philippines together,’ Rayco said. ‘We’ll apply everything we learned in Japan in our next game because we know it’s still going to be a tough fight. We’ll keep pushing and fighting until the very end.’