Rebisco failed to sustain its opening-set momentum as it fell to Uzbekistan’s AGMK in the 2021 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championships on Saturday, October 9 at Terminal 21 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

AGMK staged a come-from-behind win in four sets, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19, to send Rebisco to its second straight loss in the preliminary round of the men’s tournament.

Jao Umandal led the Philippines with a game-high 19 points, all from attacks, while Nico Almendras added 14 points.

Bunyod Egamkulov and Bunyodbek Khosinov scored 18 points apiece to lead AGMK to a share of the early lead in Pool B.

Rebisco stayed at fourth place as Qatar’s Al-Arabi has not seen action in the tournament.

Rebisco needs to place in the top two to qualify for the semifinals to remain in title contention. If the Philippines places third or fourth in Pool B, the squad will get relegated to the classification round for fifth to eighth place.

If Rebisco ends up fifth and last, it will fall to a tussle for ninth place.

Rebisco showed promise in the opening set as the Filipinos picked up steam to come back from 14-19 down and tie the score at 22-all. Mark Alfafara fueled the offense, while Almendras scored crucial points to nab set point for the Philippine team.

Though AGMK extended the set, back-to-back points propelled Rebisco to a 1-0 advantage.

In the second frame, AGMK escaped an early stalemate to build a five-point lead, 15-10, and wrest momentum.

Rebisco later rallied back with a 4-0 spurt to cut the deficit to one, 18-19, but a crucial service error and an ace from AGMK gave the Uzbeks set point, allowing them to equalize at 1-1.

The Philippine squad struggled defensively in the third set, surrendering control early as AGMK pulled away after the second technical timeout.

There were signs of hope in the fourth set when Rebisco nailed a 4-1 start, but AGMK overturned the lead and capitalized on Rebisco’s errors to stage a 7-2 run, 23-17.

After Rebisco delivered back-to-back points, forcing AGMK into a timeout, the Uzbeks quickly answered back and disposed Rebisco for its first win in the tournament. – Rappler.com