Buoyed by hometown crowd, Philippine clips Kazakhstan in U23 volley thriller

The Philippines survived a rabid third set rally and clipped Kazakhstan, 25-19, 25-11, 28-26, for its first win in the 2015 U23 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship Group A preliminaries Saturday afternoon at Philsports Arena.

Jaja Santiago found an opening in the middle to seal the victory for the Filipinas.

As of posting time, the Philippines, which has a 1-1 record, lead Group A with four points while the Islamic Republic of Iran is at second with three and Kazakhstan has none. The Philippines had a comfortable 24-18 match point but, as head coach Roger Gorayeb put it, his team’s lack of experience showed which allowed Kazakhstan to take the 25-24 match point. “When we were up 24-18, we had the momentum of the match,” Gorayeb said. “The players were ecstatic. Imagine scoring 24-18 against a more experienced and taller team.” “Then their inexperience showed.” Helping the Philippines take the sweep were Filipino-Japanese Risa Sato and Myla Pablo, who played sparingly against Iran. Pablo made sure to do good for her team by scrapping for the ball and owning the left side of the field, while Sato picked her spots in the middle. Gorayeb said he did not use Pablo that much as the she rarely practiced with the team due to other commitments. “I talked with coach Tai [Bundit], then we decided to put Myla,” Gorayeb said. “The utility spot is hers alone.” Gorayeb’s gamble with his consultant Bundit paid off as they swept Kazakhstan “who was stronger than Iran.” Alyssa Valdez was once again a force to be reckoned with, injured or not. She finished with 19 points despite an injured right thumb while Santiago had 12. Yana Yagodina, who owned her team’s right part of the court, had 18 points for Kazakhstan.