BANGKOK, Thailand — Bryan Bagunas flexed his scoring prowess and strong leadership to lift Alas Pilipinas past Myanmar, 25-23, 25-20, 25-21, in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games men’s indoor volleyball on Saturday at the Indoor Stadium Huamark here.
The veteran hitter fired 18 points as Alas overcame a jittery start for an all-important opening day win in Group B.
Bagunas hammered 16 kills with one ace and one kill block for the Philippines, which came up with a sweep despite giving the Burmese 23 free points off its errors.
Alas had to chase Myanmar in the opening frame and almost got burned in the next two before finding a way to complete the sweep.
“I think we’re still adjusting. There’s a huge pressure on the team,” said Bagunas, acknowledging the high expectations on the team following a good showing in the FIVB Men’s World Championship last September.
“We know we can play better. We had a bad game in the first two sets. Shaky but we can see that the team bounced back in the third set especially Leo Ordiales.
Marck Espejo scored nine of his 10 points on kills and Ordiales chipped in with 10 points for Alas, which is on a mission to get back on the podium after back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the past two editions of the biennial meet.
Smelling blood, Alas built a 22-18 advantage in the third frame after a Bagunas kill, but Myanmar refused to surrender and got within one, 22-21, aided by errors from Buds Buddin and Ordiales before Ya Htike Wai landed an ace.
Ordiales atoned for his mistake with a kill, Espejo punched in a kill before setter Owa Retamar sealed the deal with a well-timed kill block.
With the victory, Alas is now just a win away from securing a return ticket to the semifinals following a silver medal haul in the 2019 Manila edition.
Alas, which is on a mission to win a breakthrough gold medal, will face three-time defending champion Indonesia on Tuesday.
The Philippines was sluggish in the first set and trailed, 16-21, after Ordiales sent his attack long. An error by Myanmar opener Hlaing Wai Kyaw in the next play gave Alas an opening to mount a closing 9-2 blitz with Bagunas and Espejo capping the assault with consecutive hits.
Back-to-back aces from Ordiales gave Alas a 20-16 advantage in the second set, only for the Burmese to trim it down to one, 21-20.
Bagunas pounded two straight kills, Lloyd Josafat scored a kill block before Jade Disquitado put the set away with an ace for Alas’ 2-0 match lead.
Wai scored 13 while Chane Nyein Zaw and Kyaw had 10 and nine, respectively, for Myanmar.