Determined to put its two straight losses to powerhouse teams behind, the Philippine women’s volleyball team will go all-out against Hong Kong in the preliminaries on Thursday at 1:30pm in the women’s volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games at the Bulungan Sports Hall.
The volleybelles have beaten the Hongkong spikers several times in the past, but head coach Shaq Delos Santos and his wards vow to never let their guard down in the game which he says “they can’t afford to lose”, as a ticket to the quarterfinals is at stake.
The Philippines’ latest win against Hong Kong came in the form of a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 victory in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship last year, a triumph Delos Santos would like to repeat on Thursday.
“We were studying them and it’s very obvious that they have greatly improved,” said Delos Santos, adding that Hong Kong is already entering the crucial stretch of its three-year rebuilding program.
“These players, whom we used to easily beat before, have already matured and developed. They have been together for the past three years. We have to be at our best against them if we want to make it to the next round.”
While the Filipinas suffered humiliating setbacks to favorites Thailand and Japan, Delos Santos still believes that they still have enough to hurdle Hong Kong and Indonesia for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We’re coming off two opponents with very high level of volleyball. And so the game against Hong Kong is a must-win for us,” said Delos Santos. “This is the game where we will go all-out. Everybody in the team knows it. This is the game we’ve all been waiting for.”
Middle blockers Mika Reyes and Aby Maraño, together with liberos Dawn Macandili and Denden Lazaro, are expected to form a defensive wall against the Hong Kong bets, with the help of playmakers Kim Fajardo and Jia Morado and bench players Dindin Manabat, Maika Ortiz, Cha Cruz-Behag, and Majoy Baron.
“After getting experience from our matches against Thailand and Japan, we are ready to go to the real battle against Hong Kong tomorrow,” Marano declared.
