AVC: PH yields to unbeaten Kazakhstan, still moves on to QF

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BIÑAN, Laguna—Host Philippines absorbed a 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 beating in the hands of Kazakhstan, which remained undefeated in the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship Friday at Alonte Sports Arena here.

The Kazakhs topped Pool A with a 2-0 record while the Filipinos settled for 1-1, but both teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

Jaja Santiago had the unfortunate mishap of ending the match when her final hoorah straight went to the net awarding the Kazakhs an unblemished slate.

Despite the loss, Philippine head coach Francis Vicente was still pleased with the fight his squad brought against the Kazakhs.

“I can say that I’m still proud of them and they really played with heart,” said Vicente in Filipino. “Of course there were lapses but that can’t be helped. The Kazakhs are really tall players, what we could’ve done was just to keep moving.”

The Kazakhs have an average height of 181 centimeters, seven more than the Filipinos’ mean standing of 174 cm., and that distinct disparity worked wonders in the blocking department as the visitors scored on 17 of its blocks.

Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago were once again the Philippines’ leading scorers putting up 14 and 13 points respectively, the same marks they had in the Hong Kong win.

Katerina Tatko had a game-high 20 points to lead Kazakhstan.