A FIRST-EVER trip to the VTV Cup finals wasn’t meant to be, as Alas Pilipinas couldn’t hurdle defending champion Korabelka, 16-25, 27-25, 17-25, 22-25, in the knockout semifinals on Friday in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam.
The nationals’ late Set 4 gambit to sit out their first-unit players Jia de Guzman, Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, and Eya Laure failed to force a fifth set against the Russian champions.
The Philippines now enters the bronze-medal match of the invitational tournament for the second time in three years after Choco Mucho finished third in 2023.
A grudge match against one of Alas’ fiercest AVC Nations Cup rivals last month in either championship tormentor Vietnam or Chinese Taipei awaits in the battle for third on Saturday.
Philippines runs out of gas
Petro Gazz duo Van Sickle and Phillips paired with mainstay wingers Laure and Vanie Gandler led a Filipino frontline that traded jabs with the Russians in a nip-and-tuck start to the first set.
The two-time Russian Vysshaya Liga champions went on to pull the trigger through reigning VTV Cup MVP and tournament-leading scorer Elizaveta Nesterova, building a late eight-point cushion in an 8-3 blitz Alas failed to erase.
The Philippines kept it much closer in the second set by bringing in a sparkplug in former La Salle spiker Alleiah Malaluan.
Down two set points at 22-24, Malaluan scored three of the last five Alas points in the second frame, including the backrow kill that drew them level with Korabelka.
And just like last year with National U, the Filipinos stole a set from the Russian champion team as a silver lining in another VTV Cup playoff loss.
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