Alas Pilipinas runs out of steam
BELLA Belen and Alas Pilipinas fall short, suffering a 18-25, 22-25, 8-25 setback to China in the opening salvo of the women’s volleyball event of the 20th Asian Games.
Screengrab from Cignal
BELLA Belen and Alas Pilipinas fall short, suffering a 18-25, 22-25, 8-25 setback to China in the opening salvo of the women’s volleyball event of the 20th Asian Games.
Screengrab from Cignal
Alas Pilipinas looked sharp and ready to shock defending champion China with a feisty performance late in the second set of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games women’s volleyball competition.
It was the Philippines’ finest moment of the match.
But that was it.
China’s height advantage and firepower proved too much for the Filipinas to handle as they suffered an 18-25, 22-25, 8-25 defeat to open its campaign in Pool B on Wednesday at the Okazaki Sogo Park.
The Chinese gave Alas a rude welcome in its return to the quadrennial continental sports meet after its last appearance in 2018.
Despite overwhelming odds against the three-peat-seeking China, Alas stood its ground in the first two sets only to lose steam in the end.
“Well, first of all, we’re very, very thankful for the opportunity that was given to us to play on this level of competition. Then we faced no less than China in our first game. So, we came into this tournament very excited, very ready to learn, and very ready to be put out of our comfort zone,” said team captain Jia Morado-De Guzman, who tallied 15 excellent sets.
Alas will try to advance in the knockout stage with a win over Kazakhstan today at 12 p.m.
Angel Canino provided a silver lining for Alas after dropping 14 points on 13 attacks and one ace on her Asiad debut. The De La Salle University star added five excellent receptions and four digs.
The Philippines made it interesting in the second set after erasing China’s four-point lead with a 4-0 run to tie it at 20 after a Thea Gagate block.
China answered with four straight points to restore order behind Xin Teng, Zhuang Yushan and 19-year-old Wang Aoqian.
The nine-time champion Chinese crushed the fight out of Alas in the third by building a 19-4 advantage.
“Actually, we believed that we could measure well against them. But I guess with more preparation and gelling of the team. China is more experienced compared to us,” Canino said.
Eya Laure scored 10 points and Alyssa Solomon had nine for Alas.
Tang led China’s assault with 19, including 8 in the second frame while Zhuang and Wang combined for 30 points.
