Vietin Bank vs Rebisco PSL Manila. CONTIBUTED PHOTO
Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan—The Rebisco-PSL Manila squad is under no illusion that it will be a dominant squad in the Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championships here. The Filipino spikers are using this top-tier to find holes they have to plug before going to the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in August.
And a battle-ready Vietin Bank of Vietnam exposed quite a number of them Friday.
“There are still many areas to work on, but the good thing is that we see them one by one here and we get a chance to do something about it before the SEA Games,” said head coach Francis Vicente.
On top of the list: Floor defense.
The Vietnamese flaunted dynamic floor defense and picked apart the Filipinos’ coverage when it mattered to subdue the hard-fighting Rebisco-PSL Manila squad, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 25-14.
It was Rebisco-PSL Manila’s second defeat in as many games, and one that lined it up next against China’s Tianjian Bohai Bank on Saturday in the prestigious tournament.
Camaraderie will be the last item in the SEA Games checklist the coaching staff needs to tick off as the Filipinos displayed seamless communication to force Vietnam to work hard on both sides of the court.
Filipino superstars Jaja Santiago, Aby Maraño and Jovelyn Gonzaga combined forces for the Philippines to claim the second set, scoring from all corners to the delight of a packet of fans cheering them on at Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace.
The Philippines were leading the first set, 9-4, but fell to Vietnam’s unrelenting digs that it deftly converted to attacks most of the time.
The fourth set was also close with Rebisco coming within 10-13 but Vietnam displayed even more energy to zoom ahead as the Filipinos committed one attacking error after another.
Rachel Ann Daquis contributed nine points for the team, which nevertheless showed improvement from Thursday’s defeat at the hands of Hisamitsu Springs of Japan.