By John Bryan Ulanday
THE PHILIPPINE women’s national volleyball team clinched a bronze medal after escaping with a thrilling 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12 win against Vietnam to end its campaign on a high note in the inaugural 2019 ASEAN Grand Prix at the Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand.
Veteran hitter Mylene Paat topscored with 22 points on 14 attacks to assure the Nationals that they’re not going empty-handed in this four-nation tournament also serving as a build-up to the country’s 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) hosting this November.
Kalei Mau (16), Ces Molina (14) and Majoy Baron (13) stepped up big time to provide solid help for Paat as the national women’s volleyball squad dodged a winless finish in this first-ever invitational volleyball tournament in the SEA region.
Learning their lessons from close losses against powerhouses Indonesia and Thailand, the Pinay spikers got off to a rousing start this time, stunning the Vietnamese with a 25-21 opening frame win. The Philippines also won the third set with the same score, 25-21.
But Vietnam, the bronze medalist in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEAG, owned two of the next three sets to force a deciding fifth set where the Nationals proved as the steadier team this time with a strong stand in the clincher.
The Pinay spikers got off to a hot start in the decider, leading 6-3 before Vietnam capitalized on the Nationals’ errors to make it a tight contest at 12-all.
The reigning Philippine SuperLiga MVP Mau, however, took matter into her own hands as she nailed three consecutive kills to seal the deal for the Filipinas.
Thi Thanh Thuy Tran and Thi Kim Thanh piled up 25 and 16 markers, respectively, for the Vietnamese who got blanked in three games in the first leg of this first-ever ASEAN Grand Prix after earlier defeats to Thailand and Indonesia.
The second leg is slated in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on Oct. 4 to 6 that also serves as a test event for the volleyball competition in the SEA Games slated Nov. 30 – Dec. 11 here.
