AVC: Philippines loses second straight as Korea stays undefeated

Photo from asianvolleyball.net

BIÑAN, Laguna—The Philippines took another loss in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship as Korea handed the host a three-set beating, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12 in the classification stage Sunday at Alonte Sports Arena here.

Korea, FIVB’s 10th-ranked team in the world, are 2-0 in the classification stage and has a shot to take a top-four seeding for the quarterfinals while the Philippines dropped to 0-2.

Hwang Minkyoung assured the Koreans of the victory with an off-the-block kill the Philippine defense had no chance of receiving.

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And though it was Hwang who dealt the final blow, it was Korean superstar Kim Yeon-koung who threw the early haymakers.

Kim, who sat out Korea’s first two games and played sparingly in the third, surprised those in attendance when she stepped to the floor when her team squandered a five-point lead late in the first set.

Korea had a 24-19 lead when Jovelyn Gonzaga and Aby Maraño combined for four straight points to cut the lead to 24-23.

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Kim then ended the first set with a booming kill for Korea and she did the same in the second set with another power hit to end the penultimate period.

“If I were a player and KYK came in, I’d be stunned,” said Philippine head coach Francis Vicente in Filipino. “KYK is one of the world’s best and for me it was an honor that she played that early in the game.”

“Still, even though we lost, I’m still proud of them because we put up a fight against one of the best teams in the world and you can see that we can win it’s just that we would falter at the end.”

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Yang Hyojin had a game-high 13 points to lead Korea while Kim put up 12 points, going 9-of-12 on her spike attempts.

Kim Heejin also had double-digit scoring numbers when she put up 11 points for Korea.

Jaja Santiago paced the Philippines with 10 points while Alysa Valdez and Gonzaga combined for 14.