Alas Pilipinas places fourth after loss to Taipei in VTV Cup

Alas Pilipinas in the VTV Women’s Cup in Vietnam.–CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas dropped the bronze medal game to Chinese Taipei, 17-25, 24-26, 22-25, settling for fourth place in the VTV Women’s International Cup on Saturday at Vinh Phuc Gymnasium in Vietnam.

Looking to reassert its mastery against the team it beat to reach the AVC Nations Cup final, Alas was surprised by Chinese Taipei, which swept its way to a second straight bronze, including the previous tournament in Vietnam.

READ: Alas Pilipinas loses to Korabelka, set to battle for VTV Cup bronze

Alas held a 22-21 lead in the third set off MJ Phillips’ quick attack, only for Taipei to score four consecutive points capped by Vanie Gandler’s attack that went out.

After getting dominated in the first set, the Philippines fought back from a 19-22 deficit in the second with Brooke Van Seackle scoring three straight points for a 23-22 lead before Chinese Taipei regained the lead, 24-23.

Van Sickle forced a deuce only for their foes to score back-to-back, capped by a block on Gandler to take a two-set advantage.

PVL MVP Van Sickle was once again the leader for Alas, while Phillips and Gandler were also instrumental.

READ: Alas Pilipinas makes semifinals of VTV Women’s Cup

Alas was coming off a tough four-set semifinal loss to Korabelka of Russia, where Alleiah Malaluan scored 11.

The AVC Nations Cup runner-up finished the tournament with two losses after finishing with a 2-1 record in Pool A, followed by a quarterfinal win over Est Cola of Thailand.

The last Philippine team to reach the podium in the VTV was Choco Mucho in 2023.