CITY OF CANDON — Alas Pilipinas finds itself in a precarious situation as it faces Chinese Taipei, its semifinal hopes no longer entirely in its own hands as the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Volleyball Cup returns to action on Thursday at the Candon City Arena.

With two wins against two losses, the Philippines sits third in Pool A with seven points.

But Korea and Chinese Taipei already have nine points each after winning their three matches, while Australia has five points with two matches to play in the preliminaries.

The clearest path for Alas Pilipinas is to defeat Chinese Taipei convincingly — a straight-sets win or four-set victory would earn them the maximum of three points and raise their total to 10.

If Korea sweeps its next two assignments against Australia and Chinese Taipei, the Philippines would be in a strong position to reach the semifinals.

The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams move on to the classification round.

But even teams that fall short of the medal rounds still have plenty to play for.

Every match in the 12-nation tournament presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and the City of Candon headed by Mayor Eric D. Singson counts toward the FIVB World Rankings, making each result crucial for qualification and seedings in future international tournaments.

Skipper Alyssa Valdez says Alas Pilipinas will hold nothing back.

“At this point, ibibigay din namin talaga ’yung lahat namin. Ang dami naming natutunan, pinagaralan, so buong puso naming haharapin ’yung laban namin sa Thursday,” Valdez said.

“Iba talaga ang lumaban para sa bayan. Honored kami, honored.”

Coach Shaq de los Santos said the focus is on the match at hand, and not on the team standings. He also credited the squad’s veterans for helping keep morale high and ensuring the team learns from every setback.

“Good thing, marami kaming veteran players na nag-gu-guide din. Meron kang Alyssa, Jovelyn (Gonzaga), Ces (Molina) sila Royse (Tubino),” de los Santos said.