Tough Challenges Await the National Women's Volleyball Team

The Indonesian women's volleyball national team is undergoing less than ideal preparations with a squad that is not at full strength. Meanwhile, the opponents in the AVC (Asian Volleyball Confederation) Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025 in Vietnam, from June 7 to 14, are also formidable. A tough challenge awaits them.

When announcing the call-up of players to undergo national training camp, the Central Board of the All Indonesia Volleyball Association selected 15 senior players. One of the senior players called was oppositeMegawati Hangestri Pertiwi. The news of the call-up was announced on May 15, three days after the 2025 Proliga ended.

However, 10 days after the summons, the PP PBVSI announced changes to the squad. Three players who were previously called up had to be absent. In their place, two new players were summoned to the national training camp.

"Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi is granted permission to appear in the AVC due to still undergoing recovery from an injury and focusing on personal matters," wrote PBVSI in its announcement.

In addition to Megawati, who is just in her second season in the South Korean Volleyball League and has appeared in the 2025 Proliga finals, outside hitter Aulia Suci Nurfadila and opposite Arsela Nuari Purnama are also absent. They are both recovering from injuries.

Indeed, Megawati, along with Arsela and Aulia, could form the best combination in the national team at present. They could serve as the driving force of the attack with their respective abilities.

PP PBVSI then called middle blocker Dinda Syifa Amalia and outside hitter Ajeng Viona Adelia. This means that the players called were reduced from 15 people to 14 people. Each team's slot is indeed 14 people.

This change has received various negative responses, particularly from netizens. They questioned the seriousness of PP PBVSI in preparing the team, including organizing domestic competitions such as Proliga, which are close to international events.

The Proliga 2025 is actually being held earlier than in previous years, starting at the beginning of the year. The aim is to avoid clashes with international events, as occurred last year. At that time, during the AVC Nations Cup, which was still called the AVC Challenge Cup, PP PBVSI had already summoned senior players.

However, the PP PBVSI ultimately could not maximize the squad after experienced players, such as Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi, Wilda Siti Nurfadhilah, and Agustin Wulandhari, were absent due to a clash with Proliga. The star players who were initially called up were then not included, replaced by young players with minimal experience in international matches.

The average age of the Indonesian squad is 19 years, only surpassed by Taiwan, which also fielded a team with an average age of 18 years. The national team is also the only one among the 10 participants in the AVC Challenge Cup that did not maximize the 14-player slot, bringing only 11 players.

As a result, from six matches in the AVC Challenge Cup, the women's national volleyball team only achieved two victories and suffered four defeats. The team, coached by Pedro Lilipally, finished in seventh place out of 10 participants. This result is a significant decline from their performance in 2023 at the same event when they successfully reached the final after securing five victories.

In fact, the AVC Challenge Cup last year was the last and best opportunity for Indonesia to qualify for the world competition of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The AVC Challenge champion is entitled to represent Asia at the FIVB Challenger Cup, a tournament under the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). Subsequently, the winner of the FIVB Challenger Cup has the chance to compete in the VNL, replacing the bottom-ranked team in the VNL that has been relegated.

Meanwhile, starting this year, there will be no degradation for the teams participating in the VNL 2024. The teams that qualify for the VNL are those ranked at the top of the senior volleyball world rankings. Thus, Indonesia's path will be more challenging as it is required to pursue a world ranking if it wishes to qualify for the VNL.

For this reason, delivering the best performance at the AVC Nations Cup is crucial to improve the ranking. However, even though the Proliga has been held earlier, its timing remains close to the AVC Nations Cup.

Players are injured after representing their respective teams in the Proliga. Many netizens are also questioning the commitment of the players when called up to the national team.

As a result, the Indonesian squad is again not at full strength. Not only that, the preparation that Indonesia underwent was also very short.

While other teams, such as the U-21 men's and women's teams, have been training at the Jenderal Polisi Kunarto Volleyball Training Center in Sentul, Bogor Regency, on Thursday (22/5/2025), the players of the senior women's national team have yet to appear. Head coach Octavian stated that his squad is still incomplete. Several players are indeed still engaged in various events with their clubs.

At that time, Octavian estimated that the new players would be complete and training could begin on Monday (26/5/2025). The AVC Nations Cup 2025 is scheduled to take place from June 7 to June 14 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Indonesia is planned to depart on June 5. This means they will have only about 10 days of effective training time.

In fact, Indonesia's opponents will not be easy. Based on the draw conducted on Sunday (25/5/2025), Indonesia is placed in Group B alongside Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Iran, Mongolia, and New Zealand. Particularly against Kazakhstan and the Philippines, Indonesia is expected to face fierce competition from both teams, which are ranked above Indonesia.

Based on the world ranking as of May 27, 2025, Kazakhstan ranks 31st globally or fourth in Asia. It is followed by the Philippines in 52nd place, the third-best team in Southeast Asia after Thailand (13) and Vietnam (32).

Indonesia ranks 54th. Meanwhile, Iran is in 57th place. Mongolia and New Zealand are not included in the second ranking.

The Deputy Head of Development and Achievement of the PP PBVSI, Loudry Maspaitella, stated that Indonesia can maximize the match against Mongolia. However, it is certainly not feasible to achieve only one victory. Given the less than ideal conditions, Loudry mentioned that the most realistic target for Indonesia is to at least reach the quarter-finals.

"At a minimum, to enter the top eight, Indonesia must rank fourth. We can maximize our performance against Mongolia, but is that all? The match against the Philippines might be intense," said Loudry.

Loudry acknowledged that the squad and preparations undertaken by the women's national team are not ideal. He also admitted that the selection of players, which is based on input from the selection team of Proliga 2025, is not yet perfect.

At the senior level, Loudry stated, the pool of players is actually limited. As a result, when key players are forced to be absent, it becomes difficult to find substitutes. Moreover, the backup players do not yet possess equivalent skills.

Hope lies with the junior players who replaced their seniors last year. According to Loudry, Indonesia's strength could be maximized if the team consists of a combination of senior and junior players, particularly U-21 players.

The idea to create that combination was once proposed. However, the PP PBVSI ultimately decided to keep senior and junior players separate, especially since the U-21 team is being prepared for the World Championship in August, with Indonesia as the host.

"Before the Proliga final, I had already proposed that the AVC Nations Cup be for the U-21 team. Besides the opportunity, they indeed deserve to be in the senior team. However, Mr. Imam (Sudjarwo, Chairman of PP PBVSI) has considerations that the U-21 team should remain separate so that they can focus on the World Championship," said Loudry, who is also a former national volleyball player.

The AVC Nations Cup 2025 is the first tournament for the women's national team this year. It would be very beneficial for Indonesia if they could achieve good results in this inaugural event. However, with a short preparation period and a less-than-ideal squad, can those high expectations still surround the women's national team?