Photo from asianvolleyball.net
BIÑAN, Laguna—–When the Philippines and Vietnam, which are miles away from each other in the FIVB standings, it was the smallest Filipino on the court who made one of the biggest impacts.
Dawn Macandili, a reserve player for the Philippines’ Southeast Asian Games squad, pestered the region’s reigning silver medalists and helped the Philippines upset Vietnam, 27-25. 26-24, 17-25, 25-23 in the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship
The 5-foot libero was aware of how ahead the Vietnamese are in the rankings but she knew that momentum can change easily by just a few plays on the floor.
READ: Philippines stuns Vietnam in AVC
“I thought at first that ‘oh no we’re facing one of the top teams in the world,’” said Macandili in Filipino. “But when we started playing, I said to myself ‘wait this is volleyball we’re talking about,’ this is anybody’s game.”
And even though Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago brought the offensive pain with 20 and 19 points, respectively, it was Macandili who frustrated the 44th-ranked team in the world in the defensive end.
Macandili registered 19 excellent digs, 13 more than Vietnam’s Dinh Thi Thuy, and 12 excellent receptions to help the Philippines, 79th-ranked team in the world.
READ: Valdez, Santiago praise Maraño in PH win over Vietnam
And there were plays that weren’t recorded in the stat sheet, for instance Macandili’s several heart-stopping receptions on Tran Thi Thanh Thuy’s booming spikes.
“For the past two games, I was still finding my groove,” said Macandili who shares libero duties with Denden Lazaro. “So I think I finally got my rhythm against Vietnam.”