The Philippine women’s volleyball team put up a feisty stand in the second set, but Vietnam proved too tough for the young crew.
A college-laden Philippine side yielded to host Vietnam in four sets, 25-15 19-25 25-21 25-9, to open their Southeast Asia Volleyball League (SEA V.League) campaign at the Vin Phuc Gymnasium in Hanoi on Friday night, August 4.
Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon, National University’s top guns, were at the forefront of the Philippines’ attack, providing the majority of the team’s 43 total kills, but they weren’t enough to pull the rug from under Vietnam.
Trần Thị Thanh Thúy, popularly known as T4, continued to be the biggest thorn on the side of the young Philippine contingent as she looked virtually unstoppable throughout the night, except one instance where Minerva Maaya emphatically blocked T4 on an attack, which triggered a fancied celebration by the youthful Filipinos.
But it was when T4 was on the bench that the Philippines administered its onslaught, bolstering its offense in the second set with hits from all angles of the floor that caught the Vietnamese defense off guard, en route to the Filipinas’ lone set win of the game, 25-19.
Errors proved to be the biggest culprit in the Philippines’ fall as Vietnam scored 23 off its opponents’ errors.
The Filipinas remained within striking distance even when T4 returned in the third set, but the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup MVP’s presence proved to be pivotal in Vietnam’s offensive scheme as they knocked the wind out of the sails of the Philippines with back-to-back hits from Hoang Trinh and Tran Linh to move on cusp of victory.
The Philippines showed signs of life in the early stages of the fourth set, before Vietnam crushed the young nationals’ hopes through an 18-5 run that turned a tight 7-4 Vietnamese cushion to a lopsided 25-9 game-clinching set win.
The Philippines will face regional powerhouse Thailand next on Saturday at 5 pm.
