The Philippine Women’s National Volleyball Team’s hopes to enter the gold medal match of the 31st Southeast Asian Games suffered a huge blow after being dealt a four-set loss by Indonesia, figuring in a 23–25, 25–21, 15–25, 20-25 defeat, Tuesday at Đại Yên Arena in Quang Ninh, Vietnam.
The loss was reminiscent of the four-set loss it received to the same nation back in the 2019 edition of the biennial meet.
With their second loss in three games, the Philippines dropped to fourth in the five-nation meet. Their sole win came at the expense of Malaysia last May 13.
After the two regional rivals split the first two sets, the Indonesians pulled away in the third set with a commanding 21-9 lead. It was cruise control for Indonesia in the final set.
The Philippines started off the first on a strong note, taking a 23-21 lead before the Indonesians fired off four straight points to steal the set.
Ces Molina and Jaja Santiago powered the Philippines to a bounce back in the second stanza.
The Philippines will face host Vietnam next on May 19.
