Alas Pilipinas punched a breakthrough gold medal match ticket to the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup.
The Filipinas flirted with disaster before surviving gritty Chinese Taipei, 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 15-12, in their thrilling semifinal clash Friday night at the Dong Anh District Center for Culture, Information and Sports in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Alas displayed grace under pressure, clawing back from two points down to start the deciding frame before finding resolve to put the Taiwanese away for the right to challenge defending champion Vietnam for the mint on Saturday.
The championship match is set at 9 p.m. (Manila time).
Eya Laure took over in the fifth set with six crucial points, including a powerful cross that pushed Alas to match point, 14-11.
Chinese Taipei saved a match point after a miscommunication off a rebound ball from Laure and libero Dawn Catindig.
The Taiwanese almost saved another point after Bella Belen was whistled for an attack error but Brazilian head coach Jorge De Brito won a video challenge for a ball touch as the Filipinas roared in celebration.
Young guns led the way with Belen pounding in 15 points off 11 kills and four kill blocks while Alyssa Solomon had 12 markers for Alas, which assured itself of at least a silver medal finish following a bronze haul last year. Belen also displayed superb defense with 16 digs and 19 excellent receptions.
Fifi Sharma added 10 points while Laure and Angel Canino added nine each as Alas entered its first gold medal match stint in any Asian level competition in a long while. The Philippines' last major competition championship appearance was back in the 1997 Southeast Asian Games.
Down, 3-5, Alas countered with a huge 10-4 run with heady setter and captain Jia Morado-De Guzman feeding red-hot Laure with bullets to punish the Taiwanese. Chinese Taipei closed in within two before Laure’s match point kill.
Alas controlled the first two sets but lost steam in the next two as the Taiwanese repeatedly found the hole in the Pinay spikers’ defense to force a decider.
The three-peat-seeking Vietnamese beat Kazakhstan, 25-15, 19-25, 25-7, 25-16, for a third straight championship appearance.
Chieh Chen had 19 points to pace the Taiwanese while Shuang Ling Liu and Yi-Chi Chang added 17 and 14 markers, respectively.
Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei dispute the consolation bronze medal.