Breakthrough
NAKHON Ratchasima—On the verge of losing for the third time in as many nights, Aby Maraño, the Philippines’ feisty captain, didn’t have to give her teammates pep talk.
She didn’t have to.
“Sometimes I felt our minds shut down, for the past two matches that’s what happened,” she said. “But tonight in the fourth set, everybody badly wanted to win.”
The Philippines, heartbroken after letting two previous games slip away, finally took its first win Tuesday night, bringing down world No. 21 Kazakhstan, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17, in the 6th Asian Volleyball Confederation Cup for Women at Chartchai Hall here.
The win revived the Philippines’ hopes of making the quarterfinals, depending on the results of the other matches ongoing at press time.
“We are really happy, I can’t put it into words,” added Maraño, as the team cooled down inside their locker rooms.
The Philippines lost its first two matches under similar circumstances—leading Australia two sets to none and Iran two sets to one.
“I think we managed to clear that hump tonight, that’s what we need to gain confidence and killer instinct,” said Alyssa Valdez.
After winning the first two sets, the Filipinos treaded on a familiar, dangerous ground when they dropped the third set after committing a spate of errors.
In the fourth set, the rejuvenated Kazakhs stormed to an 8-5 lead in the hope of extending the match.
But lefty hitter Mylene Paat fired away, including the pivotal cross that gave the Philippines a 16-14 lead that it never yielded.
Iran sweeps group
Earlier, Iran swept Pool C after brushing off Australia in straight sets, 25-17, 25-22, 25-20.
With its third win, Iran captured top spot with 7 points, while Australia was second at 2-1 and 4 points.
Frustrations
Valdez had earlier admitted getting “very frustrated,” after dropping “winnable” matches against Australia and Iran.
Valdez, who unloaded a total of 49 points in those games, said the team naturally felt bad but took the losses as a challenge to work harder.
“It’s really frustrating because we knew that the games were winnable because they reached fifth sets,” Valdez said in Filipino. “But we’re all professionals and we take it as a challenge, make it a positive thing.”
Valdez also noted that the other teams were playing together for a longer time, unlike the Philippines which is just starting to get the hang of international competitions after years of absence.
