MANILA – The Philippine men’s volleyball team suffered its first defeat in the 30th Southeast Asian Games. It was swept by Indonesia in three close sets, 23-25, 30-32, 20-25, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Despite the defeat on Friday night, the national men’s volleyball team is still moving on to the semifinals round. They will be facing four-time defending champions Thailand today.
The Philippines had a strong start and was up 15-11 before Vietnam countered with a 10-2 run for a 21-19 advantage.
The Philippines rallied to within 23-24 but a conversion from Vietnam’s Rivan Nurmulki ended the set.
In the second frame, the game was tight anew with the Philippines clinging to a 25-24 advantage. The Vietnamese, however, gunned for a deuce several times with last at 30 before Doni Haryono hammered a hit followed by a kill block.
The Philippines showed some fight again in the third set. It led 15-10 but the Vietnamese showed determination to end the match with a 15-5 counterattack to finish the group stage unscathed without surrendering a set.
“Medyo mabigat ang laro namin kanina. Nagkulang kami pero alam namin sa sarili namin kung ano ang dapat naming gawin sa susunod na makaharap namin sila,” said PHI head coach Dante Alinsunurin.
Bryan Bagunas led the way with 24 points – all from attacks – while Marck Espejo got 17 points and 10 excellent receptions. Nurmulki led the Vietnamese with 19 markers./PN
