The Philippines put up a gallant stand, but couldn't muster a strong finish in a three-set defeat to Chinese Taipei in their final match of the 2022 AVC Cup for Women, Monday afternoon at the Philsports Arena.
The 26-28, 21-25, 21-25 result meant that the Filipinas finished in sixth place in the competition -- still an improvement from their ninth place finish in the 2018 edition of the tournament.
Ced Domingo led the losing cause with 12 points off 11 attacks and 1 block. Michele Gumabao scored 9, while Pangs Panaga and Jema Galanza tallied 8 points apiece to help the country clinch a sixth-place finish – its best in the tournament after bottoming out at ninth in 2018.
After going down two sets to none, the Philippines bounced back with a strong 8-5 start in the third before the Taiwanese staged an 11-5 resurgence to seize a 16-13 gap at the 2nd technical timeout.
Although the Filipinas still managed to push for a 20-all tie off a Galanza off-the-block hit, Chinese Taipei fired off a 4-1 finishing kick to officially clinch fifth place in the nine-country tournament.
