Underdog Indonesia take spotlight from Thailand in women’s volleyball

Cheuncey Gonzales

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Underdog Indonesia take spotlight from Thailand in women’s volleyball
Head Panther Nandita Ayu Salsabila displays leadership ability as she leads her pack to victory

MARIKINA CITY, Philippines – Though they were not the crowd favorite, the Indonesia Black Panthers managed to down the favored Thailand Blue Dragons in a commanding 24-26, 25-20, 26-24, 25-22 rout in the women’s volleyball division of the 6th ASEAN Schools Games Friday, December 5.

Head Panther Nandita Ayu Salsabila displayed leadership skills as she led her pack to victory by providing tactical plays for her teammates. Arsela Nuruari Purnama capitalized on the exceptional leadership of Salsabila as the former was named the match MVP.

“It was a close game. Thailand was a very difficult opponent,” said Salsabila. 

The tone of the match was set in the first play as Leelawan Sukod of Thailand drilled in a thundering spike that sent the crowd roaring for more. 

Legisya Nuari Asyiah answered back with a spike of her own, initiating a teeter-totter bout in the early minutes of the game.

Lady Panther Purnama proved that height is might as she provided solid back-to-back blocks for her team, which put an end to a rally.

Thailand took advantage of the numerous service errors of Indonesia, establishing a 13-5 run comprised of lightning fast spikes released by crowd darling Arisa Promnok.

Just as Indonesia was gaining momentum, Pattrathip Santrakoon, captain of the Dragons, drilled in a stunning service ace, ending the first set 24-26.

The Panthers came into the second set with fire in their eyes, with their heart bent on redemption with Purnama, punching in a deadly spike to kick-start the set.

Nok Yoong Pao-Wana replied with a tactical drop that started a 9-0 run for the Dragons courtesy of the spikes and drops from Promnok and Pao-Wana.

Salsabila ended the drought with a powerful spike, complimented by a service ace from teammate Yasmin Nafisah.

Consecutive spikes were pierced in by Salsabila and Purnama, which kept the Panthers alive in the second set. 

Indonesia established a dominating 11-2 run, which included the wall-like block from Purnama that concluded the second set 25-20.

The third set started off with a bang as Kanokporn Panthaison released a deafening spike.

An early rally took place only to be stopped by a skillful spike from Purnama.

Hathairat Jarat let loose a flurry of spikes and blocks, which headed a 7-0 run for the Dragons.

The charities given up by the Dragons kept the Panthers alive, barely scraping by with Salsabila’s service ace, finishing the third set 26-24. 

An intense rally that tested the resiliency of both teams kicked off the fourth set with Indonesia taking the rally with a drop coming from Purnama.

The Panthers took advantage of the multiple errors committed by the Dragons, establishing an explosive 16-2 bomb, forcing Coach Sathaporn Panich to call a timeout.

After regrouping, the Thais retaliated and established a 16-4 run of their own, but just as the tension was rising, Puranma erased all hopes the Dragons had with an earth shaking spike to end the set and grab the victory, 25-22.

“We really had to push our defenses to the limit since Thailand was a very strong. We were worried that we wouldn’t win,”said Tri Retno Mutiara, resident blocker of the Panthers. – Rapper.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!