BANGKOK. -- Alas Pilipinas overcame a jittery start to fend off Myanmar, 25-23, 25-20, 25-21, in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games men’s indoor volleyball on Saturday at the Indoor Stadium Huamark here.
Italian head coach Angiolino Frigoni banked on veteran hitters Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo to carry Alas past a pesky Burmese side as the national squad opened its medal bid on a high note.
Alas struggled defensively and threw away points off miscues, especially from the service line. But relying on familiarity and with Bagunas and Espejo leading the way, the Filipinos were able to regroup and complete a straight-sets victory in Group B.
“We have to change up, especially at the break point. We didn’t serve good, we didn’t [defend], some players, they are not in very good condition yet. I hope we will get them in condition for the next match,” Frigoni said.
Bagunas hammered 16 kills with one ace and one kill block to finish with 18 points for the Philippines, which came up with a sweep despite giving the Burmese 23 free points off errors.
Smelling blood, Alas built a 22-18 advantage in the third frame after a Bagunas kill, but Myanmar refused to surrender and got within one, 22-21, aided by errors from Buds Buddin and Leo Ordiales before Ya Htike Wai landed an ace.
Ordiales atoned for his mistake with a kill, Espejo punched in a kill before setter Owa Retamar sealed the deal with a well-timed kill block.
Espejo scored nine of his 10 points on kills and Ordiales chipped in with 10 markers for Alas,
With the victory, Alas moved a win away from securing a return ticket to the semifinals after back-to-back fifth-place finishes following a silver medal haul in the 2019 Manila edition.
Alas, which is on a mission to win a breakthrough gold medal, will face three-time defending champion Indonesia on Tuesday.
The Philippines was sluggish in the first set and trailed, 16-21, after Ordiales sent his attack long. An error by Myanmar opener Hlaing Wai Kyaw in the next play gave Alas an opening to mount a closing 9-2 blitz with Bagunas and Espejo capping the assault with consecutive hits.
Back-to-back aces from Ordiales gave Alas a 20-16 advantage in the second set, only for the Burmese to trim it to 21-20.
Bagunas pounded two straight kills, Lloyd Josafat scored a kill block before Jade Disquitado put the set away with an ace for Alas’ 2-0 match lead.
Wai scored 13 while Chane Nyein Zaw and Kyaw had 10 and nine, respectively, for Myanmar.
