Philippines falls to Chinese Taipei in Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball classification round

BIÑAN CITY, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Philippine national women’s volleyball team registered its second straight defeat in the classification round of the 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship after falling to Chinese Taipei, 19-25, 20-25, 19-25 on Wednesday, August 16 at the Alonte Sports Arena.

Chinese Taipei went straight for the kill in the opening set, as it capitalized on a few unforced errors from the Philippine side to go up early, 16-7.

The nationals meanwhile kept it close at the start of the second, as they got some momentum going after obtaining a deadlock at 20.

But reception as well as net errors came back to haunt the Filipina spikers down the stretch as they were not able to get back on the board after that point— handing Chinese Taipei a comfortable two sets to none lead.

Alyssa Valdez led all PH scorers with 13 points, 10 coming off spikes and 2 from service aces. She got ample support from Jaja Santiago, who dished out 10 markers, while Ces Molina added 8.

Veterans Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Maika Ortiz had 7 points apiece.

Wei-Hua Wu delivered a game-high 14 points for Chinese Taipei, while Hsiang-Ling Hsiao and Wan-Ting Chen both pitched in 9.

The host team earlier failed to crack into the Final Four after bowing down to Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand in straight sets on Tuesday.

With the win, Chinese Taipei will next head to the battle for 5th place, setting up a date against Vietnam.

Philippines will have the chance to shoot for the 7th place – which would still be its best performance so far in the Asian Seniors – when it plays Kazakhstan once again on the final day of the tourney.

Match tips off at 10 am also at the Alonte Sports Arena.

Scores:

Chinese Taipei (3): Wu 14, Hsiao 9, Chen 9, Tseng 6, Chen 5, Chang 5, Chen 2, Lee 1

Philippines (0): Valdez 13, Santiago 10, Molina 8, Ortiz 7, Pontillas 7, Gonzaga 1

– Rappler.com