BIÑAN CITY – A depleted Foton Pilipinas fought hard but crumbled down the stretch, allowing Thongtin Lienvietpost Bank of Vietnam to steal with a pulsating 25-18, 19-25, 20-25, 25-12, 15-8 victory on Sunday in the 2016 AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship at the Alonte Sports Arena here.
With import Lindsay Stalzer out with a back problem, the Tornadoes bowed in the face of a strong Vietnamese defense in the fourth set before completely fading in the fifth to suffer their first loss in this prestigious tournament organized by the Philippine Superliga, Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. and the city government of Biñan headed by Congresswoman Len Alonte.
Stalzer, the Most Valuable Player of the recent PSL Grand Prix, is being bothered by back spasms the past five days that prompted Foton Pilipinas head coach Fabio Menta to sit her out in a bid to get her healthy for the all-important quarterfinal battle against either Altay VC of Kazakhstan or NEC Red Rockets of Japan on Tuesday.
Filling the huge void in her absence was her fellow import Ariel Usher, Jovelyn Gonzaga and Jaja Santiago, who wreaked havoc in the middle in the second and third sets of this match that also has SMM Sport, Nike, Senoh, Asics, Mikasa, Foton, BMW, Rexona, PLDT and Price Waterhouse Cooper as sponsors, with Crimson Hotel as official residence and TV5 and SMMTV of Thailand as television partners.
Usher delivered 15 kills, had three aces and two blocks for a total of 20 points while Gonzaga had 13 kills and three blocks for 16 points. Santiago had 13 hits after a sluggish start that saw Menta experimenting with his roster in the opening set.
“I take responsibility in the loss in the first set. I experimented a little and we paid a heavy price for it,” said Menta, who moved Gonzaga to the open spiker position and Usher and Maika Ortiz to the opposite position to somehow obstruct the attacks of the Vietnamese.
“We got soft in the fourth set. Vietnam was the more disciplined team (in the fourth set). Down 2-1, they only had one choice, which is to play hard. We knew they were coming back hard. We gave them a chance but we slowly collapsed.”
With the Tornadoes one set away from pulling off an upset, the Vietnamese tightened their defense while skipper Minh Do Thi uncorked powerful smashes from the open position.
Minh, the national team player who finished with 22 kills, five blocks and a pair of aces, took charge in the fourth as the Vietnamese surged ahead, 16-7, entering the second technical timeout.
It was all-Vietnam from there as their blocking and floor defense were too tight, too solid to penetrate.
“My team handled the pressure well,” said Vietnam coach Pham Van Long, whose wards tallied more blocks, 15-9, and more attacks, 58-53, than the home squad.
“We were down in the third set, but we didn’t give up. We played with a sense of urgency and we’re very tactical both on offense and on defense.”
Thao Tran Thi had 13 hits while Ly Linh Tran Ton Nu had 12 markers for the Vietnamese, who will square off with Kwai Tsing of Hongkong Monday for a chance to grab the top spot in Pool A entering the quarterfinals.
Games Today
(Alonte Sports Arena)
11:30 am ñ Hongkong vs Vietnam
2:00 pm ñ Kazakhstan vs Japan
4:30 pm ñ Iran vs Thailand
6:30 pm ñ China vs Malaysia