Alas Pilipinas Girls suffered a crucial 22-25, 18-25, 19-25 beating at the hands of Indonesia to bow out of contention in the 22nd Princess Cup SEA U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship at the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium in Thailand.
The Philippines ended the preliminaries at the third spot with a 3-2 record and will head to the third-place match as the third seed.
On the other hand, Indonesia will proceed to the gold medal game, where they will take on Thailand, after ending the eliminations with a 4-1 record.
Facing an 18-23 disadvantage, Alas Pilipinas tried to mount a late fightback in the opening frame with Harlyn Serneche, Denesse Daylisan, and Avril Bron initiating a 4-1 run that put the Philippines to within two, 22-24.
However, it was not enough as Indonesia took a 1-0 advantage after an off-the-block attack from Azzahra Dwi Febyane.
In the second frame, Indonesia burst right out of the gate and smothered the Philippines by way of an 8-1 run, which the latter never recovered from, to secure a 2-0 set lead.
The Filipinas managed to keep it close early in the third set and even took an 8-6 lead over the Indonesians.
Unfortunately, that proved to be it as the latter went on a 13-5 run to grab a 19-13 lead which Alas Pilipinas never recovered from.
Jaila Adrao was the lone double-digit performer for the Philippines with 12 points, including eight in the third set while Daylisan added nine markers.
Kim Rubin, who has been stellar for the team all tournament long, was limited to just two points in three sets of play.
On the other hand, Junaida Santi led the way for Indonesia with 19 points while Azzahra chipped in 14 markers in the victory.
The Philippines will take on Australia for the bronze medal tomorrow, Thursday at 3:00 p.m. (Manila time).
