China takes PH lightly in first set but recovers to get semis spot in Asian U23

After a first set shocker, China cranked up the intensity and finished off Philippines, 25-23, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17, to take a semifinals spot in the the Asian U23 Women’s Volleyball Championship Thursday evening at Philsports Arena. The Chinese went into full command in the next three sets showing the Filipinos that they are the powers of Asia. Zheng Yixin launched a rocket in the fourth set that sealed the match. China head coach Xu Jiande admitted after the game that they never prepared that much against the Philippines, knowing full well that they are the better team. “We played hard today,” Xu said through a translator. “We didn’t prepare for this kind of team.” “Before, we’re thinking that we’re the stronger team than the Philippines and we relied on the players’ experience.” China, which fielded its backup in the first set, witnessed an inspired Philippine team take them down. That was the calm before the storm for the Philippines. Following the first set loss, China brought in the elites, in a sporting version of a shark against minnows. Every time the Filipinos looked for momentum or just an opportunity to score, Chinese team captain Liu Yanhan was there to take them apart. Liu had 21 points for China while Zheng had 13. Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago led the Philippines with 17 and 16 points, respectively. As a consolation, Philippines was one of only two teams in the tournament to beat China in a set. South Korea was the other team that took China to five sets in a losing effort. With the loss, the Filipinos were relegated to the classification phase and will get a crack at the fifth spot.