Saga Hisamitsu Springs underlined the huge difference in the level of play between the Japanese club and Alas Pilipinas Women with an emphatic 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 win Saturday in the Alas Pilipinas Invitationals at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

But the Philippines didn’t go down without a fight.

The entry of Sisi Rondina, Thea Gagate and Cherry Nunag in the third set after being held out in the earlier sets got the crowd going and provided Alas Pilipinas Women a quick boost.

Rondina managed to get through the Japanese defense with her crisp shots, while Gagate and Nunag covered the net well to give Eya Laure several chances hitting from the back row on the way to a rare lead at 8-7.

But that inspiring run was cut short as Saga Hisamitsu Springs figured things out quickly, shut down the formidable four and got the job done in just over an hour.

Miyu Nakagawa led the way for nine-time Japan V.League champions, scoring 15 points, while Megumi Fukazawa scored 14.

Alas Pilipinas women team captain Dawn Macandili-Catindig admitted the team had quite a few lapses and needs to regroup quickly in the home-and-home set.

“Both ways, net and floor defense, we are a bit inconsistent so we need to do a better job,” Macandili-Catindig said.

Alyssa Solom and Vanie Gandler had five points each, while Laure added four for Alas Pilipinas.

“Now we have actually played them, we’ve learned quite a bit about them and we’re confident we can play better in the next match.”

Alas Pilipinas Women and Saga Hisamitsu Springs clash anew on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Coach Jorge Souza de Brito is also counting on a more solid performance in the rematch after a test run of sorts.

“The plan today was to field all of them and maybe tomorrow we can give the visitors a tougher time,” De Brito said.