ALAS Pilipinas fell to China, 18-25, 22-25, 8-25, in the Asian Games women’s volleyball opener at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium in Japan on Wednesday.
The Filipino volleybelles managed to be competitive against the defending champs, especially in the second frame, but collapsed in the third as the Chinese dominated to secure the Pool B win.
Alas fell into a 4-19 hole and trailed by as many as 17 points, 7-24, in the third set.
China finished the match in one hour and eight minutes.
Angel Canino fired 14 points to lead Alas as Eya Laure aided her with 10.
Alyssa Solomon chipped in nine points for the Taka Minowa-coached team.
Thea Gagate and Dell Palomata added three and two points, respectively.
The Filipinos put up the most fight in the second set, where they came back from a 16-20 deficit and tie the count at 20 following a Gagate block on Tang Xin.
Staying composed, the Chinese responded with a 4-0 run to eventually take the set.
China carried the momentum in the third frame as it shut down the Philippines, which is now in a must-win situation against Kazakhstan on Thursday.
A loss will end the Filipinos’ quarterfinal bid and relegate them to classification matches.
Tang banged 18 points to lead the Chinese as Yushan Zhuang punched 17.
Aoqian Wang chipped in 13 markers.
