Vietnam dominated Singapore, save for a tight second-set battle, scoring a 25-8, 29-27, 25-10 victory to remain unblemished in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The defending champions, who continued to play without star player Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, stood alone atop Pool B at 2-0.
“In the first set, Singapore took a while to get into the swing of things, and Vietnam took advantage of it, but in the second set, Singapore improved in every facet of the game,” said Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen through an interpreter after the one-hour, 19-minute match.
The Singaporeans, who were smothered in the opening set, encountered even more problems in the second as captain Rachel Lau and Wen Qi Fu sustained injuries after separate bad landings.
However, those injuries seemed to boost their teammates to play for them, as they dragged the Vietnamese team to extended play in the second set, but back-to-back hits by Tuyen and Le Thanh Thuy gave their side a commanding 2-0 set lead, 29-27.
Tuyen led the balanced scoring of Vietnam with 13 points built on nine attacks and four aces in just two sets of action, while Nguyen Thi Tra My and Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh chipped in nine points apiece.
“I appreciate the big crowd. They are all supportive of both teams. I really enjoyed playing for this big crowd,” Tuyen said about the huge Filipino crowd who showed immense appreciation during the match.
The Vietnamese side, which won its first-ever title in the tournament last year, was up and above in the spiking and service departments with 44-23 and 9-4 advantages.
Both teams will be back in action tomorrow.
Vietnam will face 1-0 Kazakhstan at 1 p.m., while Singapore will collide with youthful Indonesia at 4 p.m.
Natalie Lai and Yun Jie Gan posted seven points apiece for the Singaporeans, who dropped to 0-2, last in their group.
