By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
It was anybody’s ball game as both teams fought tightly but the Filipinas came up short in the deciding set.
Losing a heartbreaker against a well-composed Vietnamese team in 5 tightly-contested sets, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-8, the PH women’s squad will try to bounce back and move on from their debut loss.
Firing on all cylinders in the first set, the PH squad capitalized on their well-set attacks finished strong by Alyssa “The Phenom” Valdez and Jovelyn “The Bionic Ilongga” Gonzaga.
Despite the roars and the cheers from the home crowd, Vietnam was able to shake off their sluggish start and bounced back in the second frame as their chemistry started to jell and ignite.
Things went close and unpredictable as both squads started to answer each set until the fifth and last one, where the Vietnamese squad turned the game around.
Deadlocked in the fifth at 6 all, Vietnam switched their defensive intensity that capped off a 7-1 run starting with back to back blocks on Valdez.
The PH squad failed to recover and Vietnam ended up winning against the host team in a thrilling match.
The PH spikers will try to revamp and move on as they face the powerhouse Thailand squad today.
