Needing to win in convincing fashion to stay in the tournament, the Philippines Women’s Volleyball Team failed to keep their campaign alive, falling to Vietnam in three sets, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 in the 2015 SEA Games hosted by Singapore.
The scoreboard shows a quick win for Vietnam but the Philippines showed flashes of brilliance throughout the match, especially in the latter two sets. The Pinays were able to attack fluently whenever they managed to get a good reception, but those good receptions were few and far between resulting in a mountain of errors. Though the Philippines nearly matched Vietnam point-for-point in the scoring skills, their spiking efficiency was bogged down by their 32 total errors which is double what Vietnam incurred.
Vietnam took the first set handily with the Philippines getting their error parade started early. In the second set, the Pinays received a huge boost from the Santiago sisters and Rachel Anne Daquis that kept them relatively close. Unfortunately, whenever the Nationals made a run, Vietnam responded quickly with coordinated playsm or the Philippines pulled themselves back with a costly error. Vietnam eventually pulled away in the second frame, extending a one-point lead and taking the set by a comfortable four points.
The third nearly slipped away early from the Philippines as they dug themselves a five-point ditch, 9-14. Off a timeout, the Pinays made a last attempt at a run that had them take the lead, 19-18 off a Rachel Daquis kill. VIE countered and rattled off four straight points to regain control, 22-19. But the Pinays didn’t go quietly, and tied the set at 22 with Jaja Santiago having a marvelous late stint from the service area. PHI nearly forced a fourth set, but Dindin Santiago-Manabat’s attacks were read perfectly twice by the Vietnam defense, putting the match away.
The Philippines’ flag bearer, Alyssa Valdez led all nationals in scoring in all three matches, scoring 11 markers in today’s loss. NU’s Jaja Santiago closely trailed Valdez’s effort with 10 points while Rachel Anne Daquis contributed eight points.
This game was the last international competition the Philippines will participate in until the 2017 AVC tournament. There will will be regional events in 2016 as it is an Olympic year.
The Scores:
VIE (3) – Do 13, Nguyan T.N. 8, Tran T.T. 7, Ha 6, Bui 5, Nguyan L.C. 3, Le 1, Pha (L)
PHI (0) – Valdez 11, Santiago 10, Daquis 8, Manabat 7, Gonazaga 6, Morado 2, Soltones 0, Lazaro (L)
