The Philippine men’s national volleyball team settled for 10th place after bowing down to the home team, Chinese Taipei, in four sets: 22-25, 17-25, 28-26, 22-25 in the 2023 Asian Men’s Volleyball (AVC) Challenge Cup for Men classification phase at the Taipei Gym in Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
After losing the first two sets, the Filipinos finally came alive in the third, leading by as much as three points, 20-17, before the Taiwanese fought back to take a 24-23 edge over the Philippines.
Madz Gampong went for a down-the-line hit but was called out. The Philippines challenged the call, which was eventually deemed successful, before Steve Rotter gave the Filipinos a slim 27-26 lead after an off-the-block hit.
Tseng Hsiang-Ming tried to tie the scores again but hit the antenna during the attack, which extended the game to a fourth set.
The Filipinos threatened to send the game to a decider with Rotter closing a three-point gap to two, 19-21, after an off-the-block attack, but Wu Tsung-Hsuan scored a cross-court hit and followed it up with an ace to give Chinese Taipei a 23-19 lead in the fourth set.
Noel Kampton answered back with a cross-court attack of his own, while Hsiang-Ming’s attack sailed out, trimming the four-point lead to just two once again.
Tsung-Hsuan put the Taiwanese at match point with a searing cross-court attack, 24-21, but Rotter went over the block to save a point for the Philippines.
However, it all went for naught as Chen Chien-Chen slammed the game-winning hit for Chinese Taipei.
The Filipinos had the chance to advance to the 7th place match but squandered a 2-0 advantage against Mongolia yesterday, resulting in a five-set loss.
