ALAS Pilipinas’ bronze-medal win was marred by an injury scare as Alyssa Solomon hurt her left knee late in the first set against Indonesia.
At 17-11 in Alas’ favor, Solomon’s left knee hit the floor in a late dig attempt on Indonesian skipper Megawati Pertiwi’s cross-court attack.
The former National University standout grimaced in pain as the tournament's medical team rushed to her side.
She was then taken off the court in a stretcher and never returned to the match, which Alas won, 25-17, 25-17, 28-26, to secure third place.
Taking her place was outside hitter Shaina Nitura, who has been occasionally converted into an opposite hitter during their first two losses in Leg 2 to host nation Vietnam and eight-time defending champion Thailand.
Angel Canino also had her share of taking on opposite hitter duties in the home stretch in which her fellow UAAP rookie-MVP Bella Belen took over her outside hitter role.
Hours before the second-leg opener on Friday, Thea Gagate was also ruled out late from the 14-woman roster.
The ZUS Coffee middle blocker suffered an undisclosed knee injury obtained during their last training session before the tournament.
'All is well'
Hours after Alas' bronze-medal win over Indonesia, head coach Jorge Souza de Brito has allayed concerns of a serious injury for Solomon.
"She is already walking," de Brito told SPIN.ph. "Still with pain, but I think she will be okay soon."
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