ALAS Pilipinas Men finally broke through at the Asian Games, beating Uzbekistan, 25-19, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17, on Friday in the classification stage to claim its first win of the tournament and book a spot in the 13th-place match.
After being held to just one point against Indonesia, captain Bryan Bagunas erupted for a tournament-high 26 points to lead Alas Men’s breakthrough win.
READ: Pagara-Progella picks up PH's first-ever Asiad medal in beach volleyball
Middle blockers Josh Magalaman and Peng Taguibolos flanked Bagunas on the scoring end. Magalaman chipped in 13 points on six attacks, six blocks and an ace, while Taguibolos finished with 11 points, including back-to-back aces that closed out the match.
Alas controlled the first two sets before Uzbekistan mounted its strongest push in the third, building a four-point lead and earning four set points. The Philippines erased three of them, but Buds Buddin’s attack error finally handed Uzbekistan the set, 25-23.
Alas then regrouped in the fourth, putting away Uzbekistan before the match could go to a deciding set to secure its first victory in Aichi-Nagoya.
Ranked No. 112 in the world, Uzbekistan gave the Philippines a stern test after Alas opened the tournament with four straight losses.
The Philippines fell to Korea, China and Chinese Taipei in Pool D before losing to Indonesia in its first classification match.
Alas Men will face Kyrgyzstan on Saturday for 13th place in their final match of the tournament. Kyrgyzstan reached the classification finale after beating Hong Kong in four sets.
A Philippine victory would match the country’s 13th-place finish at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which remains its lowest-ever placement in men’s volleyball at the Asiad.
The win also capped a historic Friday for Philippine volleyball, coming shortly after Sofiah Pagara and Khy Progella secured the country’s first-ever Asian Games volleyball medal with a bronze in women’s beach volleyball.
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