Rebisco PSL Manila Spikers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
UST-KAMENOGORSK, Kazakhstan — Rebisco PSL Manila threw in a strong performance but still came up short at crunch time to bow to Sarmayeh Bank of Iran, 25-23, 25-17, 29-27, Tuesday in the Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championships here.
The Filipinos stormed to 23-22 lead in the first set and then to two set points in the third frame but on both occasions blew the opportunities to take their fifth defeat in as many matches here.
But the Philippines is still in the running of duplicating its best finish here if it wins against either Vientin Bank of Vietnam or Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday in the battle for seventh place.
Six-foot-5 Jaja Santiago once again served as heart and soul of the Philippine club, scoring 14 points, all on cross court attacks that sowed fear on Iran’s defenders.
Rachel Daquis, the 29-year-old team captain, contributed 10 markers as she made her off-speed attacks count against the Iranians who are used to high-speed game.
Head coach Francis Vicente said the team played with big fighting heart but it still “obviously in need of more experiences playing in this level.”
Aby Marano tried to fuel the Filipinos with her sliding attacks, making nine points, while Kim Fajardo made four points aside from issuing 57 excellent sets.
Sarmayeh was led by national player Esfehani Maedeh Borhani who accounted for 17 points, while Kolaei Mahdien Khaje added 13 markers.
The match was tight in all three sets especially in the third where the Philippines went up from 12-16 to 19-17 as the Filipinos net defense held up and forced Iran to commit a string of errors.
Santiago put Rebisco at set point, 24-23, but committed an error next and saw Mahsa Saberi scoring an ace for 25-24.
Santiago and Daquis tried to make one final stand, putting the Filipinos 27-26 only to lose the next three points through receiving errors.