Members of the Philippine women’s volleyball team celebrate after their straight-set victory against Malaysia. Screengrab from SEA Games YouTube account.
Philippine women’s volleyball team kept its semifinal hopes alive after downing Malaysia, 25-15, 25-18, 25-16, Thursday in the Southeast Asian Games at OCBC Arena Hall 2 here.
This is the country’s first win in the tournament after a 10-year hiatus.
Compared to their cluttered, off-sync debut last Wednesday against Indonesia (25-22, 25-20, 25-14), the Filipinos appeared to have found their touch by dominating the match that lasted one hour and 12 minutes and delighted the full-packed gallery made up mostly of Filipinos working here.
Alyssa Valdez topscored with 13 points as spearhead of the PH offense while middle blocker Dindin Manabat added eight.
Rachel Anne Daquis, who is very popular here even to foreign fans, chipped in seven points like Jovelyn Gonzaga. Manabat’s sister Jaja Santiago added five.
Manabat rose for a backrow hit and punished the Malaysians with a straight bullet that found its spot in the middle of their defense.
No Malaysian scored in double digits as Shun Thing Beh paced her teammates with nine markers.
The Indonesians, behind controversial player April Manganang spoiled the return of the Philippines on Wednesday with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-14 straight-set victory.
The Filipinos, more popular here than the powerhouse PH men’s basketball team, will take a break Friday and return to action tomorrow against Vietnam.
Practically eclipsed by their women’s counterpart, the men’s team put one foot in the semis with a 20-25, 25-23, 25-28, 25-19 win over Malaysia.
The men’s team plays Burma late Friday. Bong Lozada