The Philippines’ Aby Marano beats this Hong Kong defense during their game on Thursday in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Despite all the conflicts that happened, we still pulled it off

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Philippines finally barged into the win column with a masterful 25-18, 25-21, 25-22 rout of Hong Kong on Thursday in the women’s volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games at the Gor Bulungan Stadium here.

Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago spearheaded the attacks, but it was a total team effort for the Filipinos who also banked on the solid defense of Mika Reyes, Majoy Baron and Dawn Macandili to crush their rivals and score a win here after two defeats.

Valdez delivered 10 kills and four aces to finish with 14 points while Santiago chipped in 12 markers for the Philippines squad that launched a strong run in the opening set to rip the game wide open.

As testament to their dominance, the Filipinos ruled the attack department, 45-37, and had more blocks, 7-1, and service aces, 11-3 — an output that is way more impressive than what they displayed against superpowers Thailand and Japan in their first two matches.

“We were sluggish in our past two games,” said head coach Shaq Delos Santos, admitting that the Thais and the Japanese were too much for them to handle.

“But every time we talk, we discuss positive things. We know the capabilities of the team and we know that we can win here. Although we still need to improve, we’re very optimistic that we can pull it through,” Delos Santos told Daily Tribune’s Asiad coverage supported by Primehomes.

With the win, the Philippines is already assured of a spot in the quarterfinals in Group A together with Japan, Thailand and Indonesia in Group A.

In Group B, cinch to make it are China, Korea, Kazakhstan and Vietnam.

We know the capabilities of the team and we know that we can win here.

But Delos Santos wants to punctuate their preliminaries campaign with an emphatic win over the Indonesians, a team powered by the hard-spiking Aprilia Manganang on Saturday.

“I hope we can be solid and will perform better against the Indonesians. I told the players that you know yourselves and you know what you’re capable of. Just work hard and everything will follow,” Delos Santos said.

The last time the Filipinos won in the women’s volleyball competition of the Asian Games as in the New Delhi edition in 1982 with Vangie de Jesus and Fe Mejia serving as key players under the Project: Gintong Alay program of Michael Keon.

The Philippines beat India, 15-9, 15-9, 15-2, in the classification round.

“Of course I’m proud,” said Delos Santos. “Despite all the conflicts that happened, we still pulled it off.”

Skipper Yeung Sau Mei delivered 15 points while Ching Wing Yan added 10 markers for the young Hong Kong squad that showed tremendous improvement and a lot of promise despite their setback.