Philippines stuns Vietnam in AVC

Philippines’ Alyssa Valdez reacts after scoring a point against Vietnam. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BIÑAN, Laguna—The Philippines came away with an absolute stunner in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship taking down Vietnam, 27-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-23, in the classification stage Monday at Alonte Sports Arena.

The Filipinos improved to 1-2 in Pool E while Vietnam, the silver medalist in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, slipped to the same record.

Alyssa Valdez dealt the killing blow to the 44th-ranked team in the world off a booming spike that set up the Philippines’ quarterfinals date against 2015 gold medalists Thailand.

“They played inspired,” said Philippine head coach Francis Vicente of his 79th-ranked team.

“What they showed there just now was the heart of a team that really wanted to win and that was the greatest thing I saw today,” said Vicente in Filipino.

Aiza Maizo-Pontillas gave the Philippines the 24-20 match point but Vietnam managed to score three straight points before Valdez landed the final haymaker of the match.

Valdez put up a personal tournament-high of 20 points to lead the Philippines while Jaja Santiago also had her best offensive game yet with 19. 

Aby Maraño chipped in 11 points to aid the Philippines.

Tran Thi Thanh Thuy led Vietnam with 16 points while captain Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa added 15.