The all-Filipina Rebisco-PSL Manila took hard lessons to open their Asian Women’s Club Championship campaign, succumbing to Japanese powerhouse Hisamitsu Springs 17-25, 10-25, 14-25 in Kazakhstan.
Rebisco, a team that is compromised of members of the Philippine Team pool, faced a Hisamitsu side depleted of their star players who were training with Japanese National Team.
The Pinays trailed most of the match by huge deficits, but made rallies late in the first and third sets to keep the margin close. Hisamitsu’s serving, however, kept them from coming within sniffing distance of a set win. The Japanese did not have to take a timeout throughout the match.
Rebisco which had 18 errors, mostly on attacks, which according to head coach Francis Vicente did very well but lacked speed and coordination that Hisamitsu, the 2002 and 2014 champion team, brandished with impunity.
“Why are you so sad?” Vicente asked the team. “You learned from them. You didn’t play badly. We just need more speed. More volleyball IQ. You got the Japanese coach worried in the first set. Be proud.”
Six-foot-five open hitter Jaja Santiago was the lone bright spot for Rebisco, scoring 16 points.
Kim Fajardo scored four points and 11 excellent sets while Ces Molina, Rhea Dimaculangan and Jovelyn Gonzaga had three points each. Mika Reyes and Rachel Anne Daquis scored two points apiece, while Aiza Pontillas made one marker.
Rebisco must win against Vietnamese club Vietin Bank tomorrow at 11:30am to keep their hopes of advancing to the next phase of the tournament alive.
