The Philippine women’s volleyball team, led by team captain Aby Marano and Tribune columnist Mika Reyes (far right) join Filipino-American and Gilas Pilipinas reinforcement Jordan Clarkson (center, back row) in a light moment Sunday night during a dinner tendered for them by Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas and Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez. Foreign Affairs Sec. Alan Cayetano also attended. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

JAKARTA, Indonesia — After a pair of early setbacks, the Philippines is set to go all out Thursday when it battles Hong Kong in the preliminaries of the women’s volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games Thursday at the Bulungan Sports Hall here.

Action kicks off at 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. in Manila) with Filipino head coach Shaq De los Santos branding it as a game “we can’t afford to lose” as it stakes a ticket to the quarterfinals.

Delos Santos admitted that the Hong Kongites will not be easy foes.

Despite defeats to the Filipinos numerous times in the past, including a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 outcome in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship last year, the Hong Kong spikers displayed flashes of brilliance in their debut against host Indonesia Tuesday.

“We were studying them and it’s very obvious that they have greatly improved,” De los Santos told Daily Tribune’s Asiad coverage supported by Primehomes, adding that Hong Kong is already entering the crucial stretch of its three-year rebuilding program.

“These players, whom we used to easily beat before, have already matured and developed.

They have been together for the past three years. We have to be at our best against them if we want to make it to the next round.”

Making it to the next round has been the ultimate goal of the Filipino spikers.

Although they dropped straight-set decisions to powerhouse teams Thailand and Japan, De los Santos still believes they still have enough gas on their tanks to win their last two assignments over Hong Kong and Indonesia for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

“The game against Hong Kong is a must-win for us,” said De los Santos before presiding on another training session at nearby Pertamina Simprug gym.

“This is the game where we will go all-out. Everybody in the team knows it. This is the game we’ve all been waiting for.”

“After earning experience from our matches against Thailand and Japan, we are ready to go to the ‘real battle’ against Hong Kong,” she said.

“We have to do everything we can and go all out because our goal of making it to the quarterfinals is at stake.”

Delos Santos said everybody is in fighting form, especially main gunners Jaja Santiago and Alyssa Valdez, who have been carrying bulk of the offensive load for the team in their previous matches.

Middle blockers Mika Reyes and Marano as well as liberos Dawn Macandili and Denden Lazaro are also ready for defensive purposes as well playmakers Kim Fajardo and Jia Morado and bench players Dindin Manabat, Maika Ortiz, Cha Cruz-Behag and Majoy Baron.

“We’re coming off two opponents playing very high level of volleyball,” said Delos Santos, adding that Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc president Peter Cayco will be at the sidelines to cheer on the Filipinos.

“Those games are very good preparations for our game against Hong Kong. Hopefully, we could come out with a good performance tomorrow. The girls will be ready.”