Southeast Asian Games host country Vietnam denied a decent challenge by the Philippines at the end of the women’s volleyball elimination round with a 25-23, 25-19, 25-17 sweep in Hanoi on Thursday, May 19.
Despite enduring their third straight loss of the tournament, the Filipinas still qualified for the bronze medal match against Indonesia on Saturday, May 21, at 6 pm, Manila time, due to Malaysia’s fourth loss the day prior.
Meanwhile, Vietnam shoots for another dethroning bid in the finals on Sunday, May 22, 6 pm, Manila time, against the volleyball queens of Thailand, who have not stepped down from their golden peak in 27 years.
Hometown star spiker “T4” Tran Thi Thanh Thuy took the lead as expected, most notably near the end of the opening set where Vietnam rallied from a 20-22 deficit to steal a 25-23 win.
It went all downhill from there for the Philippine side as the home crowd-boosted Viets widened their third-set gap as high as 8, 19-11, before Aby Maraño went down swinging in one final scoring run.
Jaja Santiago, Alyssa Valdez, Kat Tolentino, and Ces Molina paced the Filipinas’ upset bid before Maraño’s short rally near the end.
