ALAS Pilipinas lost two close sets in an 14-25, 28-30, 22-25 opening-day loss to host nation Vietnam in Leg 2 of the 5th SEA V.League in Ninh Binh.
The Nationals have now lost all four of its head-to-head matches against Vietnam in four competitions over the last two months.
READ: All you need to know about Alas Pilipinas' battle in SEA V.League
Three of those four contests were decided in straight sets.
Alas’ regular starters, including the likes of Angel Canino, Eya Laure and Alyssa Solomon, surprisingly saw limited action.
It was second stringers Shaina Nitura and Cla Loresco who had Alas’ offense on lock, even in a late third-set comeback where the Philippines just ran out of gas.
Missed opportunity for Alas
Vietnam's top guns in captain Tranh Thi Thanh Thuy and Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen decimated Alas in the first frame, winning by 11 points in a set where it led by as much as 12 and had the Philippines concede nine unforced errors.
The host nation's star duo was benched for the most part in Set 2, paving the way for Alas to strike back through Nitura's early scoring spree.
Alyssa Solomon was fielded late in the set and went on a four-point run of her own, giving the Nationals three unlikely set points against the Asian giants.
With Alas ahead at 26-25, head coach Jorge Souza de Brito opted to replace Solomon and Mars Alba in a double substitution to introduce Cla Loresco for the first time in the match and bring back captain Jia de Guzman on playmaking duties.
As a result, Vietnam had three set points of its own before being handed the second set through one of two costly attack faults from Loresco.
Alas managed to erase a seven-point deficit in the third set to draw level at 21-all, only to be overturned by a quick 4-1 Vietnam run to close out their second-leg opener in familiar straight-sets fashion.
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