Chinese Taipei completed a huge comeback against Australia in five arduous sets, 23-25, 25-22, 25-27, 25-15, 15-6, to take its first victory in Pool B of the 2022 PNVF AVC Cup for Women, Tuesday afternoon at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Chinese Taipei went to a 1-1 win-loss record but remained in third place on match points. Thailand is ahead at three match points and the latter on two. Australia, on the other hand, is still winless at 0-2.
The East Asians, with opposite hitter Lin Shu-Ho taking charge, stormed to a huge 7-1 lead and never looked back. They eventually ended the almost three-hour long match with a closing 3-0 run.
Captain and outside hitter Chang Li-Wen set the tone for her squad, scoring nine of her 15 points in that third-set fight back. She finished with 14 attacks and one service ace. Lin, on her part, ended with six markers.
Australia went off to a good start in the opening set before the Chinese Taipei made a run to tie the frame at 23. The Volleyroos, though, read the next two plays of the latter very well and, with two straight blocks, pocketed the 1-0 advantage.
It was a close fight in the second set, but this time it was the East Asians who took care of business. Chinese Taipei found a way around the Australian block to take the equalizer at one apiece.
Chang knew that the Australians leaned on their height advantage as shown by the latter’s 18 blocks, but her squad did well to turn this around in its favor.
“In the first three sets, it was not easy to take points against them,” the former VC Altay-2 standout shared. “The next sets, we tried both short and strong balls, so that they have to move on defense.”
The next two frames saw the two teams capitalize on their strengths to take the sets in their favor.
Australia still leaned on its blocking to outlast Chinese Taipei in that extended third. However, the latter turned to their service and floor defense to frustrate the former’s offense, to eventually push a decider.
Kan Ko-hui and Chen Tzu-Ya also finished in double digits for Chinese Taipei with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Kan was unstoppable at the net with 17 spikes and one block, while Chen added 10 spikes, one block, and one ace.
Chinese Taipei will battle Thailand (1-1) for the second spot in the pool on Wednesday at 4:00 PM.
Caitlin Tipping ruled the floor for the Volleyroos with a game-high 28 points on 23 attacks and five blocks. Meanwhile, Rebecca Redgen kept her team in the close sets with 11 markers on seven spikes and four blocks.
Australia will look to spoil Japan’s unblemished record (2-0) for a first win on Thursday at 1:00 PM.
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