The Philippine Women’s National Volleyball Team advanced to the next round of the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Women after dominating Macau, 25-14, 25-12, 25-9, Monday at the Tri Dharma Petrokimia Gresik Gymnasium in East Java, Indonesia.
Balanced was the attack of the Philippines as setter Djanel Cheng utilized wing spikers Faith Nisperos, Shaya Adorador, and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas as well as middle blockers Ezra Madrigal and AC Miner.
Nisperos, Adorador, and Cheng took charge halfway through the first frame to turn a close 13-12 lead into a 25-14 dominant win. Macau also crumbled during that run, committing four of their eight errors in that set.
Macau took a momentary 6-5 advantage in the second period but Adorador and Madrigal linked up for eight straight Philippine points to break away en route to a 25-12 scoreline that put them on the verge of a sweep.
The Nationals then used the same blueprint in the third set, unleashing a huge blast that allowed them to leave Macau from 6-5 to 17-6 all the way to the victory in just 63 minutes.
Madrigal led the block party with six of the Philippines’ 11 rejections against Macau’s two. They also won the service category, 6-3.
“I think there are a lot of factors (for this win). First of all, we really worked on our cohesiveness as a team since we’re a team that just bonded now. It’s a good start for us,” said Michelle Cobb.
The biggest disparity though was in the attacking department where the Philippines tallied 40 spikes against to their foe’s 12.
The Philippines will face Indonesia tomorrow, at 8 p.m. (Manila time) for the Pool A top spot.
The Filipinas will be slotted in Pool E in the next round where they will face Australia and India.
Macau finished the pool play winless at 0-2 and will figure in the 9th to 11th places classification phase.
