MANILA – Rebisco-Philippines suffered a heartbreaking 36-34, 24-26, 26-28, 25-19, 15-12 defeat to Thailand’s Diamond Food in the 2021 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship Pool B on Monday at Terminal 21 Hall in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
The Philippine-based team pushed the Thai squad to the limit before surrendering a five-setter game and be relegated to the classification phase of the week-long tournament.
After surrendering a close first set, Rebisco were again engaged in a tight second set with the score tied at 26-all before taking the set win on a through-the-block hit by Ysay Marasigan and an error by the Diamond Food.
In the third set, Diamond Food built a 22-16 advantage but Rebisco came up with eight unanswered points behind Marasigan and Jao Umandal to take set point at 24-22.
Diamond Food was able to make it a 26-26 count but JP Bugaoan’s quick kill and an attack error from the Thais gave the Philippine squad the 2-1 upper hand.
Bringing in the momentum from the third set, Rebisco was slightly ahead in the fourth frame but Diamond Food went on a 6-1 run to snatch the lead for good and set the game to a decider.
Rebisco-Philippines went on with its upset try in the fifth set as they raced to a 9-6 lead but Diamond Food answered with four straight points to take the lead, 10-9.
The Philippines and the Thais then exchanged points to tie the score for the last time at 11-all before Diamond Food finished the match with a 4-1 swing to take the victory, 15-12.
Kantapat Koonmee and Pusit Phonarinwere spearheaded the Diamond Food with 36 and 28 points, respectively, while Chaiwat Thungkam chimed in 14 points.
Umandal led the Philippine crew with 26 points, Mark Alfafara and John Vic De Guzman with 23 and 16 points, respectively.
The Filipinos will play for ninth place game on Wednesday afternoon./PN
