MANILA, Philippines (Updated 10:37 p.m.) — The Philippine women's volleyball team could not complete an upset against Thailand in the quarterfinals of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Women, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 9-25, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Saturday.
Despite a morale-boosting second set win, the Filipinas could not sustain the momentum as they fell in a tit-for-tat third salvo.
A service error by Thailand actually helped the Philippines tie the game, 20-all, late in the third set.
But a 5-0 scoring burst by the Thais left the Filipinas reeling as they regained the advantage, 2-1.
The third set loss seemed to break the backs of the home team as they lost steam against the Southeast Asian powerhouse.
After trailing by just four at the first technical timeout in the fourth set, 4-8, the Philippines gave up an 11-2 run to their foes as they blew the game wide open.
The lead proved insurmountable from that point on as Thailand breezed to the victory.
Thailand leaned on the offense of Chatchu-on Moksri and Thanacha Sooksod to take the victory and set up a semifinals clash with five-time champions China.
Moksri finished with 21 points for Thailand while Sooksod added 12 markers from the bench.
Pimpichaya Kokram also contributed with 14 points of her own.
For the Philippines, Michele Gumabao topped the scoring column with 13 points while Tots Carlos chipped in 12.
Despite the loss, Coach Sherwin Meneses took positives from getting one set against the mighty Thais.
"Syempre, masaya kami kasi at least kahit papano, nakakuha ng set, nagenjoy kami, malaking experience para sa team namin yung mga games na to. Lalo na yung mga susunod na laro namin, iaadopt namin kung ano man yung natutunan namin sa AVC," said Meneses.
The Filipinas play Australia for the 5-8th classification game on Sunday, August 28.