Megawati Hangestri Alone Isn't Enough to Boost the Women's National Volleyball Team

The Indonesian women's volleyball national team suffered a heavy defeat in the Southeast Asian inter-country tournament, the SEA V League 2025. In collective sports such as volleyball, relying on just one or two players is indeed insufficient. There needs to be solidity within the team that is formed not only over a week or two but through long and thorough preparation.

The 2025 SEA V League, which took place from August 1-10, 2025, left only scars for the Indonesian women's national volleyball team. After returning home with nothing but three consecutive defeats in the first round in Thailand, Indonesia achieved a similar result in the second leg in Vietnam.

A crushing defeat of 0-3 (17-25, 17-25, 26-28) against the Philippines in the final match marked the peak of Indonesia's decline. This second loss to the Philippines in the SEA V League underscores that Indonesia is struggling to compete for a spot in the top three in Southeast Asia.

In this tournament, Indonesia is reinforced by one of its best players, Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi. The 25-year-old player is an Indonesian women's volleyball player with experience playing abroad, including in leagues in Thailand, Vietnam, and South Korea.

In her two seasons in South Korea with the Red Sparks, for example, Megawati was the team's mainstay in every match. In her inaugural season, Megawati led the Red Sparks to the playoffs for the first time in seven years. A season later, the Jember, East Java native led the Red Sparks to the finals.

With her outstanding performance and achievements in the "Ginseng Country," it is natural that Megawati's presence in the national team raises hopes. In the previous tournament, the AVC Nations Cup 2025 held in July, Megawati was absent. At that time, Indonesia failed to meet the target of reaching the semifinals and finished in fifth place out of a total of 11 participants.

Upon joining, Megawati is expected to boost the national team's performance in this Southeast Asian level tournament. Moreover, the player nicknamed "Megatron" by fans has also been appointed as the team captain.

Inconsistency in reception and transition of attacks makes the opponent more dominant in key points.

Megawati was actually quite the backbone of the team, alongside outside hitters Mediol Yoku and Ersandrina Devega. In the second round, for example, Megawati contributed a total of 28 points.

This number is indeed far from Megawati's capability, who could score up to 38 points in a match while with Red Sparks. However, out of the total 28 points, 18 of them were scored against Thailand, making it the highest total points in the match.

However, this is not enough to boost the national team's performance. Overall, the team still frequently displays inconsistency in both attacking and defending. Communication aspects also remain a problem.

Several weaknesses of the women's national team were acknowledged by manager Luciana Taroreh. "Inconsistency in reception and transition in attack made the opponents more dominant in crucial points," said Luciana.

This communication problem is inextricably linked to the squad's chemistry. Megawati assured the team that chemistry was already established before leaving.

However, this chemistry wasn't built by the players spending long hours training together. According to Megawati, this chemistry had been developing since the national team's formation in previous years.

On the other hand, the national team's preparation is always brief. Leading up to the AVC Nations Cup, they trained for less than two weeks, specifically 10 days.

While other teams, such as the U-21 women's team, have been training at the Jenderal Polisi Kunarto Volleyball Padepokan in Sentul, Bogor Regency, West Java, on May 22, 2025, the players of the senior women's national team have yet to appear. Coach Octavian stated that his squad is not yet complete. Several players are still engaged in various events with their clubs.

For the SEA V League, the preparations are not much different. In fact, Devega stated that the new players were complete just before departure. He also acknowledged that an incomplete squad would affect the gameplay and communication on the field.

With a series of poor results, Indonesia ultimately finished in fourth place in the final standings of the SEA V League. From six matches, Indonesia failed to secure a single victory. Megawati Hangestri and her teammates could only manage to steal two sets.

That position caused Indonesia to fail to secure a ticket to the Asian tournament, the AVC Nations Cup 2026. Only two tickets are available from the SEA V League to compete in the tournament. The tickets were obtained by Vietnam, which emerged as the champion, and the Philippines, which finished in third place.

Thailand, which occupies the second rank and is also the champion of the first round, did not participate in the AVC Nations Cup due to competing in the Volleyball Nations League or VNL. The remaining ticket ultimately belongs to the Philippines.

The SEA V League is an annual tournament that features only four teams, namely Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Each team competes against one another in two rounds. The team that tops the standings will be declared the champion.

The consecutive defeats that resulted in Indonesia being in the last position of the final standings were also experienced during the SEA V League 2024. Similar to this year's edition, Indonesia failed to secure a single victory.

Before the SEA V League, Lucinana Taroreh assessed that Indonesia could actually send the best squad if the team consisted of a combination of senior and junior players who are part of the U-21. The players would complement each other.

Moreover, the results at the U-21 World Championship, which concluded on August 17, demonstrated that the U-21 team is promising. They met the target of reaching the top 16 out of a total of 24 participants in their debut at the global event.

Although the results are not free from the impact of Vietnam's embarrassing scandal, Indonesia's performance deserves commendation. Out of a total of nine matches, they suffered seven defeats. Four of these consistently ended in tight five-set contests.

The Deputy Head of the Development and Achievement Division of the Indonesian Volleyball Association, Loudry Maspaitella, stated that the combination of senior and junior teams could indeed be an option for the Indonesian squad at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. Moreover, the junior players are undergoing a longer preparation period with high intensity under coach Marcos Sugiyama.

However, if this new team is formed and the preparation is once again brief as it was previously, it is difficult to expect better performance from the women's national team. Minimal preparation should no longer be an old refrain that continues to be normalized and used as an excuse for the lack of achievement.

Moreover, there is a target ahead, namely to maintain a top three achievement in the Southeast Asian arena through the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. The women's national team cannot rely on a single individual, but rather through cooperation among players that is established through thorough preparation.