DREAM starts were followed by a double whammy for Alas Pilipinas Women as both host teams drop their second games in pool play at the 2024 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships on Wednesday at the Nuvali Sand Courts in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara struggled to find their groove in a 10-21, 13-21 defeat to Australia’s Jasmine Fleming and Elizabeth Alchin.
The other Alas duo of Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda lost to Thais Rumpaipruet Numwong and Tanarattha Udomchavee with the exact same scoreline as the Progella-Pagara pair, 10-21, 13-21.
READ: Alas Women pairs impress in Asian Beach Volleyball debuts
Progella and Pagara misfired all-match long with just 15 attacks, a single block and nine unforced errors. to gift the No. 8 seeds the breezy victory.
Both Progella and Pagara were quick to acknowledge that their opening win in the morning session and hints of fatigue may have gotten the better of them hours later in their second match.
“Naging komportable kami o naging relaxed kami masyado sa laro. May mga factors din bukod sa pagiging relaxed namin, gaya ng katawan namin na pagod na rin kaya nawala kami sa mindset namin,” Progella said.
“Kulang kami ulit sa pag-eenjoy sa laro, ‘di gaya nu’ng morning game namin.”
“‘Yung willingness na gusto naming manalo sa game, parang nawala ‘yun sa’min,” added Pagara.
Nursing a minor neck injury from the opening game, Orillaneda had to play with caution which held the pair to just 19 attacks and a whopping 11 errors to the Thais’ four.
“Natuhod po ako kanina sa Kazakhstan [game] dito sa may leeg. Okay naman na po ako pero parang nawalan ako ng hininga kanina,” she said.
Alas head coach Joao Luciano Kioday is keeping the faith that a playoff breakthrough remains attainable when the nationals hit the sands again in less than a day’s time.
“Tomorrow is another day. Some wins, some losses, but a lot to learn. That’s what I was telling them. The loss, in my point of view, we didn’t play our best this afternoon,” the Brazilian mentor said.
“We have to play our best and see if we are able to win more. When we play lower than that, it’s hard to win games. We need to play with a performance that resembles how we’ve always trained here.”
How Alas Women can advance
Wins for both Alas pairs to end pool play will give them the edge in the race for the top two spots per pool.
The Progella-Pagara duo share an identical 1-1 record with the team it won against in the pool play opener: New Zealand’s Polley-MacDonald duo.
Alas must defeat a winless China side, ideally in straight sets and a superior points ratio, to secure a spot in the Round 16 from Pool E.
A New Zealand loss to unbeaten league leader Australia will also boost Alas’ chances for a top two finish.
In the event of a triple tie at 2-1 if New Zealand beats Australia, the top two teams with the highest sets ratio will advance to the next round.
Parallel scenarios apply to the Eslapor-Orillaneda pair in Pool F, but trickier in the sense that they’ll have to beat the unscathed Japanese team to draw level at 2-1.
An Alas win over Japan and a Thailand loss to winless Kazakhstan will send the nationals to the Round of 16.
But in the event both Alas and Thailand drop their last games to share 1-2 records, the sets ratio tiebreaker metric will determine which team takes the last Pool F spot to the playoffs.
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