FILE–Alas Pilipinas coach Angiolino Frigoni during the SEA VLeague first leg.–SAVA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas started off on the wrong foot in the SEA VLeague second leg after getting dominated by home team Indonesia, 24-26, 11-25, 15-25, on Friday at in Yogyakarta.
Without star Bryan Bagunas, who suffered a knee injury in their first leg game against Indonesia, Alas coach Angiolino Frigoni turned to the young trio Buds Buddin, Noel Kampton, and Louie Ramirez, who powered their promising start in the opening set.
However, the Indonesians got their act together en route to a 23-21 advantage. Buddin, who was named Best Outside Spiker in leg 1, stopped the bleeding with a kill before Leo Ordiales tied the set. Angga Anggara brought the home team at set point but his teammate allowed a deuce with a service error.
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Anggara was able to bring back the advantage on Indonesia’s side before Buddin’s attack went way outside.
Last year’s back-to-back champions, who settled for silver in the first leg in Manila, pulled away from a tie at 7-all in the second set, scoring nine straight points for a 16-7 advantage off Anggara’s ace and never looked back to take a two-set lead, limiting Alas to just four spikes.
Indonesia kept the Philippines at bay with a 14-6 start in the third before Jau Umandal stopped the bleeding but the former mounted a 10-point run, 21-11, off Farhan Halim’s hit to seal the win.
READ: Alas Pilipinas men lose to Indonesia in SEA VLeague
The Filipinos, who finished with a win over Vietnam out of three games last week, beat the Indonesians in the first set of their leg 1 clash before losing three consecutive frames with Bagunas’ end-game injury off an awkward landing on a jump serve attempt adding more woes to the team.
Bagunas didn’t travel with the squad. Alas has yet to announce the diagnosis of his injury.
The Philippine side, which earned a bronze last week, seeks to bounce back against 1st leg champion Thailand at 5 p.m.
Thailand, which swept the first leg, extended its dominance with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 win over Vietnam earlier.