Alas Pilipinas girls were shown the door by a formidable Chinese Taipei side, 14-25, 21-25, 15-25, in the 2nd AVC Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship Final Eight on Wednesday at the Prince Hamzah Sports Hall here.
Team captain Xyz Rayco was at the forefront of Alas’ offense anew with 12 points all from attacks, catching fire in the second set to lead their gallant stand, only to blow a 17-12 lead and get dominated in the third’It’s a bit disappointing because we really prepared for this game, but it didn’t turn out the way we hoped. Still, we’re grateful because we were able to give our best despite what happened,’ said Rayco in Filipino.
Nadeth Herbon added 11 points, setter Resty Jane Olaguir and Madele Gale chipped in four apiece, while libero Frances Ramos tallied 15 digs.
‘The team’s energy kind of died down. I told them that volleyball is a game of emotion and momentum. Whenever we’re happy and communicating on the court, that’s when we come alive and play our best,’ said Alas U16 coach Edwin Leyva.
‘The problem was that our energy dropped during the crucial points. We also couldn’t push the younger players too much because some of them were dealing with muscle aches and minor pains. Still, their performance was really good, it’s just that we fell short in the end.’
Chinese Taipei advanced to the Final Four after it rose to a 2-0 record with fellow unbeaten team Japan, which swept Thailand, 25-19, 25-16, 25-19, earlier.
Taipei and defending champion Japan, who will clash for the top seed of Pool F on Thursday, also qualified for next year’s FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship in Chile as the first two semifinalists.
After losing big in the opening set where Chinese Taipei fired seven of its 10 aces, Alas girls stayed composed and unleashed a 4-0 start in the second. Rayco found her groove and gave the Philippines a 17-12 cushion.
However, Chinese Taipei scored six unanswered points, capped by Chan Tzu-Yun’s kill to take the lead, 18-17. Alas recovered and still held precarious leads – the last at 20-19 off the opponent’s service error. But the Taiwanese responded with four straight points off Chan’s hit for a 23-20 advantage before Herbon stopped the bleeding.
Chang Yun-Chen sent Chinese Taipei to set point with a strong cross-court kill, followed by Herbon’s attack that went out to take a two-set advantage.
Alas was able to neutralize Chinese Taipei’s go-to scorer Chen Ting-Yi, who was limited to four points in the first two sets before catching fire in the third to finish with 12 points. But Chan and Chang stepped up with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
‘For the team Philippines, it’s a little difficult to win. I’m glad we were able to win this game,’ said Chan through a translator.
The Philippines takes on Thailand in its last final eight game at 4 p.m. (Philippine time) on Thursday before playing in the classification round for 5th to 8th places.
The youngest national team, composed of first-timers from different provinces, entered the final eight after sweeping Iran two days ago. The Philippines started the next round with one loss, carrying over its four-set defeat to defending champion and fellow quarterfinalist Japan.