South Korea books AVC Cup semis vs Vietnam; Alas vs Iran for 7th
South Korea celebrates during a win over Chinese Taipei in the AVC Women’s Cup.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — South Korea survived Chinese Taipei in a five-set thriller, 25-19, 19-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-12, to complete a Pool A sweep in the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Cup on Friday night at Candon City Arena here.
The Koreans had to dig deep from a 1-2 match deficit and unleash a strong 11-5 start in the fifth set before moving on the verge of victory following Lee Yelim’s attack, which gave them a 13-9 lead.
READ: AVC Cup: South Korea, Vietnam, Kazakhstan stay unbeaten
However, Chinese Taipei turned to Kan Ko-Hui to cut it down to just one, 13-12. Lee nailed a clutch hit to stop the bleeding for South Korea before Jeong Yunju delivered the game-winning block on Xu Zhen Xuan.
South Korea, which swept all of its five games in Pool A including a 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 victory over Alas Pilipinas on Tuesday, set up a semifinal duel against defending champion Vietnam, which slid to No. 2 after absorbing its first-ever loss to Kazakhstan earlier.
Pool B sweeper Kazakhstan faces Chinese Taipei also on Saturday.
Kang Sohwi continued to dominate with the Koreans, unleashing 28 points from 21 kills and seven blocks. Lee and Na Hyunsoo had 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Chinese Taipei was led by Xu, who had 20 points. Wu Tzu Hua chipped in 18 points, while Tsai Yu Chun added 14.
READ: Alyssa Valdez vows strong finish after Alas Pilipinas misses semifinals
Meanwhile. Australia advanced to the battle for fifth after beating Uzbekistan, 25-20, 28-30, 25-16, 25-8, to finish third in Pool A with a 3-2 record.
Australia will battle Indonesia for fifth place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday after Caitlin O’Dea powered the Volleyroos with 21 points, backstopped by Kayla Cantrill, who had 15 points.
Alas Pilipinas will face Iran in the battle for seventh on Sunday after missing the semis for the first time in three years with a 2-3 record in Pool A. The Philippines crashed out of the semifinal race after a 16-25, 14-25, 10-25 loss to Chinese Taipei on Thursday.
Uzbekistan fell to the ninth-place match against Hong Kong, which got swept by Iran earlier, 25-14, 25-13, 25-18.
Indonesia took down Lebanon, 25-20, 25-13, 25-9, before heading to the classification round.
