Alas Pilipinas Women made China sweat through the first two sets before getting overwhelmed in the third, falling in straight sets, 18-25, 22-25, 8-25, in the women’s volleyball event of the 20th Asian Games at Okazaki Central Park General Gymnasium in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The loss dropped the Philippines to 0-1 in Pool B and put Alas Pilipinas in a must-win situation against Kazakhstan on Thursday.
After seeing what Alas Pilipinas was capable of in the first two sets, China stepped on the gas in the third and never looked back, storming to a blistering 12-3 run to put the match firmly out of reach.
The lead stretched to 19-4 behind the efforts of Zhuang Yushan and Wu Mengjie before Alyssa Solomon stopped the bleeding with an off-the-block hit. However, China was already in full control by then, marching toward a dominant third-set victory.
Angel Canino paced the Philippines with 14 points, while Eya Laure and Alyssa Solomon added 10 and nine markers, respectively, in the defeat.
Alas Pilipinas kept pace early in the opening set before China broke away from a 5-all deadlock with a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 advantage.
From there, the Chinese side kept the Philippines at arm’s length, weathering every attempt at a comeback to secure the opening-set win and draw first blood.
The Filipinas turned in a much better performance in the second frame, with Canino and Thea Gagate powering a 3-0 swing that allowed them to tie the score at 20-all and put China under pressure late in the set.
But the Chinese squad stayed composed in the closing stretch, answering with a 4-0 blitz anchored by Wang Aoqian and Zhuang to move a point away from taking a 2-0 lead. Zhuang then committed an attack error before Bella Belen came through with a smart off-the-block hit to save two set points for Alas Pilipinas.
China, however, had the final say, as Tang Xin denied Niña Ytang at the net to seal the second-set win and put the Filipinas one frame away from defeat.
Tang led the Chinese side with 18 points, while Zhuang finished with 17 and Wang added 10.
China will battle Kazakhstan on Friday, with a win putting the Chinese side in position to clinch the top seed in the group.
