The Philippine Men’s National Volleyball team could not complete their dream run in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Coming off a historic victory against erstwhile-champions Thailand, the Nationals came crashing down, surrendering the gold medal to Indonesia in a hard-fought 21-25, 25-27, 17-25 affair at the PhilSports Arena, Monday.
Facing a two-sets-to-none disadvantage, the Philippine contingent found themselves in an early 4-8 hole in the third frame.
Looking to pull his team within striking distance, Marck Espejo first converted an off-the-block hit. He then delivered a booming ace on the ensuing play to trim the lead to two points.
However, Rivan Nurmulki and Hernanda Zulfi were able to stretch the lead once more to six points, 17-11.
The Indonesians did not take their foot off the gas, leading by as much as nine points against the Filipinos.
A back row kill from Espejo followed by an attack error from Doni Haryono still gave the home squad one last opportunity to fight back. But Rivan exploded for the match-clinching kill to completely seal the win for Indonesia.
