The Southeast Asian volleyball team caused an upset by defeating the favorite to win at the continental competition.

The Philippines caused a major upset in volleyball at the 2025 Asian Youth Games (AYG) by defeating the strong contender China 3-0.

Philippine women's volleyball stunned China at AYG 2025.

The Philippines is not considered a strong volleyball nation in Southeast Asia (behind Vietnam and Thailand), let alone the continent. However, youth competitions often bring surprises. In the U18 women's volleyball event at AYG, the young Filipino girls shocked everyone by winning decisively 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20) against China in the classification round (places 1-8).

In the recently finished match, the Philippines displayed solid tactics, strong defense, and sharp attacks, completely overpowering the more experienced opponent. They took the lead from the first set thanks to evenly distributed points from key players and maintained their advantage through the next two sets with excellent blocking and decisive scoring plays.