Youthful spiker Jade Disquitado took matters into his own hands, punching in crucial hits in the fourth set of the Philippines' payback win over Singapore, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, to finish fifth in the 32nd Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games men's volleyball competition Monday at the Olympic Complex Indoor Main Hall.
The 18-year-old first-timer in the biennial meet delivered the much-needed points in the fourth frame to keep the Singaporeans at bay as the Filipinos closed their unsuccessful campaign in the same spot they had last year in the pandemic-delayed Hanoi SEA Games.
It was the second straight win for the Nationals after a listless three-game run in the group stage including an embarrassing sweep at the hands of Singapore last Saturday.
The Filipinos regained their composure in the third set after a sorry meltdown in the second frame, breaking a 22-22 deadlock with three unanswered points including back-to-back kill blocks by Lloyd Josafat to regain the match lead, 2-1.
Singapore kept the fourth set close before the Nationals saw an opening late in the frame to pull away behind Disquitado. Jayvee Sumagaysay sealed the deal for the Filipinos with a kill block.
The Pinoy squad, who for the second consecutive SEA Games stint missed the podium after grabbing silver in the 2019 edition held in Manila, beat Malaysia, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 17-25, last Sunday at the start of the classification round for 5th to 8th place.