SEMIS-BOUND Alas Pilipinas Men closed out the group stage of the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games men’s volleyball tournament with a straight-sets loss to three-time defending champion Indonesia, 17–25, 25–27, 24–26, on Tuesday at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok.
The defeat, however, carried no impact on the Philippines’ semifinal spot, though it did cost them the top seed in Group B.
As a result, Alas Men are set to face the winner of the Group A showdown between regional heavyweights Thailand and Vietnam later in the day.
READ: Alas Men get assist from Indonesia to enter SEAG semis
The Nationals shot themselves in the foot from the onset with a flurry of unforced errors, conceding 10 free points in the opening set alone and went on to give up a full set’s worth of errors at 25 for the match.
An early 5–2 Indonesia start quickly built a gap the Philippines could not close in Set 1, a lead that ballooned to as much as seven before being sealed by a three-point set-clinching run.
The final two sets mirrored Alas Women’s bronze-medal match loss to Indonesia a day earlier, both going down to the wire with late Philippine comeback bids ultimately going to waste.
Alas Men trailed for most of the second set before a quick three-point blitz handed them their first lead at 22–21. They even had two set points, both coming off Indonesia service errors.
But much like in the opener, Indonesia leaned on the power duo of Nurulhaki Rivan and Arabi Boy Arnez to slip past the Philippines and take a commanding 2–0 lead.
Alas Men came out sharper in the third set, with a four-point burst fueled entirely by captain Bryan Bagunas’ attacks giving the Nationals their biggest lead of the match at three, 10–7.
Still, Indonesia responded with grit, reclaiming control at 20–17. The Philippines clawed back to tie the set five times, but could never wrestle the lead away as the match was ultimately sealed on a kill block against Marck Espejo.
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