MANILA – Alyssa Valdez made a triumphant debut for the Philippine women’s volleyball team after scoring a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 sweep over Vietnam in the ASEAN Grand Prix second leg over the weekend at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Laguna.
The former Ateneo Lady Eagles standout, who missed the first leg in Thailand due to an injury, top-scored with 14 points, on 12 attacks and two service aces.
Frances Xinia Molina and Mylene Paat also finished with double figures of 13 points each, while Julia Morado had 17 excellent sets and 10 digs. Dawn Macandili finished with 22 excellent digs and 11 excellent receptions.
Both teams traded leads early in the opening set before the Philippine squad got headways late in the period behind the barrage of points of Valdez for a 22-19 advantage.
Valdez continued her game-long brilliance at the onset of the second period before getting much needed help from Molina, Paat and Mary Joy Baron for a tight second set win.
The Philippine team, however, had to dig deep early in the third with the Vietnamese showing some life. But Paat, Molina and Abigail Marano converted hits to build a 24-19 edge en route to a sweep win./PN
