Alas Pilipinas fell short of reaching greater heights after succumbing to Thailand, 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, in their final 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Men game at the Isa Sport City Hall C in Manama, Bahrain on Friday.

Team co-captain Marck Espejo, and Jade Disquitado’s double-digit performances were not enough to close out their stint with a bang as the Philippine men’s volleyball national team ended up in 10th place — similar to its finish in last year’s edition of the tournament.

Espejo hammered down 15 attacks as he finished with 16 points, while Disquitado whipped out 13 attacks to end up with 14 points.

The rest of the crew failed to maintain its strong first and second set showing as Lloyd Josafat carved out nine points, Jau Umandal dished out eight points, while Kim Malabunga chipped in seven after seeing action in all four sets.

Noel Kampton caught fire a little too late as he eked out six points in the last frame alone in a failed attempt to force a fifth set.

The Filipinos’ title hopes were cut short after suffering from devastating straight-set losses in their Pool A matches to China on Sunday and host country Bahrain on Monday.

Before losing to Thailand, Alas Pilipinas clinched its sole win over a young Indonesian side on Wednesday to wind up with a 3-1 record.

On the other hand, Amornt Khonhan was unstoppable after dropping 30 points while Jupa Jenthaisong contributed 15 to propel Thailand to a ninth-place finish.

Meanwhile, the battle for gold heats up as Bahrain faces Kazakhstan and Pakistan go head-to-head with South Korea in the semifinal round as of press time.

The knockout final round is set for Sunday.