JAKARTA – The Philippine volleybelles lost a second time against the host team and its power-hitting spiker Aprilia Santini Manganang, and settled for eighth place at the close of the 18th Asian Games women’s volleyball competition at the GOR Bulungan Stadium here yesterday.
In a virtual repeat of their group play encounter, the Filipinas dropped a four-set setback to the Indonesians, 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 20-25, and ended their Asiad return with a solitary win against six losses in all.
But the Filipinas were far from being discouraged, saying success is not achieved overnight.
“We will not stop. We’re just starting the national team program. Our training and exposure in other major tournaments would definitely continue,” said national coach Shaq delos Santos.
“After this, we’ll be going to the AVC Asian Cup in Thailand. Our hopes are high. I hope the team would carry all the lessons they gained here and show improvement,” Delos Santos added.
The players said they won’t quit and would continue to work hard to raise the level of their game hopefully in time for the SEA Games the country is hosting Indonesians deal ... From Page 17
next year.
“As a national team, we’re just starting our program. We’re going to work hard and persevere. If this is part of our journey, so be it. We’re not going to stop practicing and training,” said skipper Aby Maraño.
But based on the showings of the Southeast Asian teams here, the Philippines could well be in an uphill battle in the SEA Games.
Thailand was to play China for the gold medal here while Vietnam placed sixth ahead of Indonesia and the Philippines.
Team Phl’s lone win came at the expense of East Asian minnow Hong Kong, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22, in a campaign also marked by a near upset of Kazakhstan at the start of the consolation round.
Yet again yesterday, Manganang inflicted the Filipinas much beating, delivering 16 kills and three blocks for 19 points while her sister, an equally-powerful Amaya Manganang, finished with eight points she laced with crucial hits in the third and fourth sets.
Mylene Paat came through with 10 hits while Alyssa Valdez and Aby Marano chipped in nine and six markers, respectively, in their last match in the tourney where they finished ahead of Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and India.