PSL Manila pushes tough Thais to their limits, bows in 4 sets

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

UST-KAMENOGORSK, Kazakhstan — Rebisco PSL Manila put highly-rated Supreme of Thailand on the edge before surrendering a four-set thriller Monday in the Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championships.

A questionable call by the referee on a Thailand hit, which swooped straight out, dampened the Filipinos’ furious surge late in the fourth frame and preserved the 25-20, 25-12, 18-25, 27-25 victory.

It was Supreme’s fourth win in as many games in the tournament, putting the team in contention for the title that the Thais won four times before.

The all-Filipino Rebisco Spikers has now lost their fourth straight game but played their best game so far in the tough tournament where the best the Filipinos could come up with is 7th place playing with imports.

That was probably was on Thai coach Nataphop Srisamutnak had in mind as he had two foreign reinforcements, American Genevieve Mann and Fatou Niane Diouck of Senegal on top of his Thai national players.

After dropping the first two sets, the Thais, the most dominant in Southeast Asian nowadays, were caught off guard as Jaja Santiago, Jovelyn Gonzaga and Aby Marano delivered the telling blows for the Philippine club.

The three alternated in burning the lanes with 6-foot-5 Santiago hitting 22 points and Gonzaga moving through tight defense to score 14 markers. Marano produced 13 points on sliding attacks and blocks.

PH head coach Francis Vicente lauded the team for banding together to come up with a strong performance in the face a tall odds.

Diouck accounted for 28 points, while Kongyot Ajcharaporn added 14 for Supreme.

The Filipinos fought off two match points in a show of determination despite a handful of bad calls from the linesmen that even got the crowd at Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace in uproar.

The Philippines will fight for fifth place in its final two games of the tournament.