Marck Espejo against Taiwanese defenders in the AVC Challenge Cup for men match. –AVC PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine men’s volleyball national team crashed to 10th place in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Men after bowing to Chinese-Taipei, 25-22, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, in Taipei on Saturday.
The Philippines was unable to bounce back from its five-set loss at the hands of Mongolia on Friday, 17-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12.
Taipei showed its dominance in the second set when it buried the Philippines to a 2-0 deficit.
Already leading by five, 15-10, the home bets went on an 8-5 rally to take the insurmountable 23-25 advantage over Sergio Veloso’s wards.
The Philippines managed to gut out an extended third set win. With the score tied at 26-all, Josh Umandal converted a kill for the Nationals, followed by a service error by Taipei to take the third set, 28-26.
However, Taiwan denied the Philippines of the tournament’s ninth-place honors after shutting the door on the Nationals, 25-23.
Fortunately for the Veloso-mentored squad, the Philippines will go home with positive news.
After their early wins in the AVC Cup, the Nationals jumped in the FIVB World rankings, leapfrogging from No. 167 to No. 56, globally.