PH spikers finish 9th in AVC Cup

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine women’s volleyball team turned back Kazakhstan in 5 sets, 25-13, 23-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-8, in the classification round to finish at ninth place in the 2018 Asian Women’s Volleyball Cup on Saturday, September 22, in Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand.

Cha Cruz-Behag took over in the final frame, firing three straight points to put the Philippines up 13-7. A Kazakh error put the Nationals at match point before a Jia Morado spike wrapped up the contest. 

The Filipina spikers overwhelmed the error-prone Kazakhs in the opening frame, crusing to a 25-13 win behind Alyssa Valdez and Mylene Paat as the Nationals scored 11 off their opponents’ miscues.

But that turned out to be the only easy set as the Kazakhs challenged the Filipinas hard in the next four frames.

The Central Asians came out charging behind their veterans to steal the second set, 25-23, and looked to have carried the momentum in the third frame, 7-3, before Paat took charge. 

Responding with an 8-0 spurt – highlighted by three straight Paat aces – the Philippines wrested the advantage at 11-7.

But the Kazakhs again found their footing, rallying to tie the set at 20 before the Nationals staged a 5-2 closeout capped by a Cruz-Behag attack to take a 2-1 match lead.

Yet the Kazakhs again came rising in the 4th frame, zooming to a 16-10 advantage on the way to a 25-17 set win that forced a deciding set.

The Filipina spikers also scored their lone elimination-round win against Kazakhstan.

– Rappler.com