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[av_heading heading=’ Filipina spikers down Vietnam to face Thais ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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BIÑAN, Laguna – Alyssa Valdez, Jaja Santiago, and Ilongga Aby Maraño teamed up to let the Philippines defeat Southeast Asian rival Vietnam 27-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-23 in the 19th AVC Asian Women’s Senior Championship.
The Filipinas ended the quarterfinals classification round with 1-2 win-loss record after the Monday night action at the Alonte Sports Arena, where Valdez led the scoring with 20. Santiago and Maraño chipped in 19 and 11, respectively.
Diminutive libero Dawn Macandili also impressed with game-high 19 excellent digs to go along with 12 excellent receptions.
The victory allowed the Philippines to set up a crossover quarterfinals clash with Thailand, the reigning Southeast Asian Games women’s volleyball champ. The match was being played as of press time.
Trailing 14-20 in the opening set, the Philippines relied on the offense of Valdez and Santiago to come to within 21-24. The match reached a deadlock at 25-all before the Philippines leaned on Valdez to take the set.
In the second set, the Philippines was again behind 21-24 before unloading a 5-0 scoring run, capped by back-to-back service aces by Valdez, to surge to a 2-0 set edge.
After dropping the third set, the Philippines got to an early lead in the fourth set before staving off Vietnam’s runs. Vietnam came to as close as 23-24 but Valdez ended the match in the Filipinas’ favor with a down-the-line hit.
“It was a major morale booster because the players will think that they are capable of winning over Vietnam,” said Philippines head coach Francis Vicente. “This is good for us heading into the SEA Games.”/PN
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