The Philippine men’s national volleyball team closed the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam on a winning note Friday, beating Myanmar 26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 27-29, 16-14 to take fifth place.
The Filipinos finished with a silver in 2019.
Ahead 2-1, the Philippines built an early 12-8 lead in the fourth set at the Dai Yen Arena only to yield six straight points to Myanmar and ended by a rejection to Jao Umandal’s spike to trail 13-15.
The team managed to keep their opponent at bay until Umandal scored off a down-the-line hit to reach match point, 25-24.
Myanmar held on stretched the set at 27-all before denying Bagunas twice to force a decider.
In the fifth set, Bagunas continued to lead the Philippines, including a spike that gave them a 9-7 advantage.
But Myanmar always found answer and eventually reached the match point after a backrow hit, 14-13.
Rex Intal, however, blocked a Myanmar attack before a net error and another rejection from Bagunas to run away with the victory.
The Philippine men’s volleyball team missed the podium after dropping its games against Cambodia and Thailand in the preliminary round.
