Alas trips Indonesia, bags bronze

Alas Pilipinas saved its best performance for last to capture a third straight bronze finish after bringing down Indonesia, 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-13, in the first leg of the 5th SEA V-League on Sunday at the Terminal 21 Korat in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Restoring order after yielding the third set with a dominating start in the fourth frame, the Filipinas ended a two-game skid and claimed their fifth third place finish overall in the regional volleyball tilt.

Alas raced to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and pulled the Indonesians to an 18-6 hole after skipper Jia de Guzman landed an ace.

De Guzman utilized Alas’ deep arsenal of hitters with Angel Canino, Eya Laure and Alyssa Solomon finding their marks while middles Dell Palomata and Fifi Sharma shutting the door on Indonesia’s attackers.

Alas was in full control of the fourth with Sharma hammering down a quick attack to bring her team to match point before Canino fired a missile from the backrow that the Indonesians failed to control, punctuating the Filipinas’ sweet victory.

Indonesia took a 13-8 lead in the opening set but Alas rallied to take the driver’s seat and never looked back. Brushing off a rusty opening frame, the Jorge de Brito-mentored squad dictated the tempo in the second set to take a commanding, 2-0, lead.

Alas momentarily lost steam in the third set and allowed the Indonesians, led by the trio of Tisya Amallya Putri, Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi and Ersandrina Devega Salsabila, to pull away and take advantage of the Filipinas’ eight errors in the frame.

Meanwhile, defending champion Thailand is trying to extend its reign to eight straight against Vietnam in the crucial battle of unbeaten teams as of press time.

Alas absorbed a sorry four-set loss to Thailand last Friday despite drawing first blood before suffering another four-setter heartbreak to Vietnam on Saturday.