Alas Pilipinas Boys came within a set of reaching the quarterfinals of the AVC Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship but suffered a heartbreaking reverse-sweep loss to India, 25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 4-15, on Tuesday at the Wuyuan River Gymnasium in Haikou, China.
The defeat dropped the Philippines to third place in Pool B with a 1-2 record, its lone victory coming against winless Bahrain (0-3).
The Filipinos appeared headed for a historic breakthrough after dominating the first two sets behind the efforts of Terrence Marticion, Allan-Rey Dais, Terrence Gamotea, and John Daniel Dela Cruz.
India, however, regrouped in the third and fourth sets, making adjustments against the offense orchestrated by Alas captain Howard Guerra to force a deciding fifth set.
In an attempt to catch India off guard, the Philippines moved Jeffe Gallego to setter while shifting Guerra to the open hitter position for the final frame. The gamble, however, failed to pay off as India seized control behind team captain Sourabh Kashma, Adarsh Singh, and Deepak Deepak, racing to an 8-2 advantage.
Gamotea briefly stopped the run with a block on Kashma, but India responded with four straight points to extend its lead to 12-3.
Guerra ended the drought with a crosscourt attack, but a costly Philippine net error put India at match point before Kashma sealed the victory with back-to-back service aces.
“We were so close; we were already there, but we fell short. We did not hold on until the end. There are situations where we could take the set and win, but maybe this match is not for us,” said head coach Oliver Balse.
“I am still happy with how they performed because I can really see the skills, but maturity is something we really need to work on,” he added.
Marticion led Alas Pilipinas with 16 points built on 14 attacks and two aces, while Dais and Galapin added 14 points each. Gamotea and Dela Cruz chipped in nine markers apiece.
“We are thankful because we gave our best. No one was injured, and we will do our best in the classification round,” said Marticion.
“We will keep our heads up high. This is a hard lesson for us, but it also inspires us to become better players when we return to our leagues in the Philippines,” he added.
Kashma erupted for 31 points to power India, while Deepak contributed 16.
Despite missing out on the knockout stage, Alas Pilipinas will continue its campaign in the classification round, with its next opponent to be determined after the conclusion of Tuesday’s remaining pool matches.
The Philippines opened its campaign with a 17-25, 20-25, 13-25 loss to Iran before bouncing back with a 25-22, 13-25, 25-23, 25-14 victory over Bahrain on Monday.
Iran finished atop Pool B with a perfect 3-0 record, while India improved to 2-1 as both teams advanced to the quarterfinals. Bahrain ended the pool phase winless at 0-3.
