MANILA – Choco Mucho-Philippines had a rough start in the 21st Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship. Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC defeated it 25-11, 28-26, 25-17 on Friday at Terminal 21 hall in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
It was a struggle for Choco Mucho-Philippines, which had to give up two of its veterans in Kim Kianna Dy and Mary Joy Baron to Rebisco after four of its players failed to complete their health requirements.
Choco Mucho-Philippines struggled heavily with their reception and first ball in the opening set. Nakhon Ratchasima immediately built a double-digit lead en route to a 25-11 score.
The Philippine representatives, however, showed some life in the second set behind Deanna Wong, Mylene Paat and Filipina-Hawaiian hitter Kalei Mau for a 24-22 lead. But two straight errors by Mau gave Nakhon Ratchasima a 25-24 lead.
Choco Mucho-Philippines regained the lead at 26-25 courtesy of Paat’s left-handed kill but could not close out. Nakhon scored three straight points capped by Kuttika Kaewpin for a 2-0 set edge.
The Philippine side, however, never got the momentum from the close second set setback. The Thais took care of business in the third set to claim their first win in Pool A.
Despite the straight-set defeat, Choco Mucho-Philippines head coach Odjie Mamon still lauded the strong showing of Mau, who went straight to Thailand from her hometown Hawaii.
“Kalei’s slowly getting into the groove. After four days of travelling from Hawaii, she is pushing herself and she is trying to channel her energy to the team early on,” said Mamon.
Choco Mucho hopes to regroup and end its Pool A stint on a positive note against debuting Zhetyssu of Kazakhstan at 1:30 p.m. today. A win will give them a shot at finishing second in its group.
“The good thing about this being the first match is that we can learn from it. We’ll watch the video and we’re just going to keep learning along,” said Choco Mucho team captain Iris Tolenada./PN
