Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 9, 2024 – Hosts Thailand and Philippines continued hot streak at the 22nd “Princess Cup” Women’s U18 Southeast Asian Volleyball Championship at the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium after powering past Australia and Malaysia respectively on Sunday for two successive wins in the six-day tournament.
On Saturday, Philippines got their campaign opener off to a brilliant start following convincing win in their totally one-sided battle against Singapore, while Malaysia went down in thrilling three-setter against Australia.
Another win on Sunday carried the Filipinas’ momentum to a 2-0 win/loss record in the single round-robin competition.
Both Philippines and Malaysia started the opening set with almost similar standard which saw the score leveled at 6-6 and 10-10 from the beginning. After that, Philippines found their touch as they broke away with a four-point advantage at 19-15 and extended it to 23-20. Outside hitter Denesse Daylisan attacked well to bring Philippines to the set point 24-20 and Maile Paz Salang and Avril Denise Bron solidly blocked a spike from Tian Ye Eunice for the eventual 25-20 win in the set.
Conceding one set, Malaysia cruised their way back from trailing closely 3-5 to catch the Philippines at 8-8 and from then on, both sides put up a good fight, turning it into a tight contest. Malaysia continued leading the way, with Philippines hot on their heels. Leveling at 27-27, Malaysia upped their tempo to bag two points in a row for the win in the hard-fought set 29-27.
In the third set, Philippines raced to a 16-10 lead, but Malaysia bounced back to trail close 16-17 and caught up with the opponents 21-21. Still, the Filipinas regained their composure to stay in front 24-22 before middle blocker Lianne Penuliar slammed a down-the-line hit to hand the team’s 25-22 win.
Malaysia tried hard to come back in the fourth set, but they committed unforced errors to trail far behind 17-24. A service from Akeyla Bartolabac went out wide, saving the day for Malaysia, but their challenge ended seconds later when Lianne Penuliar hammered an overpass kill for the Philippines’ 25-18 win in this set.
Denesse Daylisan and Kimberly Chelmei Rubin delivered 13 points apiece for Philippines, while Tian Ye Eunice scored a match-high 26 points from 21 attacks, two blocks and 3 aces on the Malaysia’s loss.
Philippines will next go up against Thailand in the battle of the two unbeaten teams on Monday, while Malaysia will take on Singapore.
On Sunday, Thailand, fresh from 3-0 rout of Indonesia, faced off against Australia, which also emerged triumphant in their 3-0 opener against Malaysia. The host side remained strong offensively with the likes of outside hitter Supawadee Panwilai, who tallied 17 points in their previous match, opposite Sasikan Janoiu and middle blocker Nattharika Wasan. Australia shuffled their starting lineup in this match, with opposite Lara Maric orchestrating the offensive system.
The first set turned out to be one-way traffic. With outside hitter Atitaya Kaewnok unleashing powerful attacks, Thailand proved a cut above the Australians to take an early lead with eight-point advantage at 16-4. They cruised on to win the easy set 25-8.
Australia regrouped and played with more confidence to capture an initial 3-1 lead in the second set before Thailand fought back to catch the visitors at 5-5 and again 11-11. From then, the battle became intense, with Thailand leading the way and Australia attempting to close the margin. Holding one-point advantage to lead narrowly 20-19, Thailand made short work of the visitors, scoring five points in a row to close out the set 25-19.
The third set was closely-contested from the beginning. However, combination attacks, consistency and resilience made the difference for Thailand as they led 13-8. Australia sent in many substitutes to improve on their defence, but their intention was still in vain. Thailand went on their good show to win the set 25-15, again without much effort.
Sasikan Kanoiu, Supawadee Panwilai and Atitaya Kaewnok scored 11 points each for Thailand, while Lara Maric led Australia with 9 points including 6 attacks from 19 attempts.
Australia dominated the blocking game, getting 9 stuffs to Thailand’s 5, but the Southeast Asian side did a very good job of leading the opponents in kills (40 to 16) and aces (6 to 2) – they also benefited from more opponent errors (24 to 15).
Earlier, Indonesia registered their first win in the tournament following their comfortable 3-0 victory against Singapore on Sunday.
Indonesia relied on their attacks from Tina Syifa Sabila Salim and Chelsa Berliana Nurtomo to easily capture the first two sets 25-9, 25-6. Although Singapore tried hard to revive their fortunes in the third set, they failed to make their mark and trailed by wide margin 8-17. Indonesia went on their fine form to reach the match point 24-16, allowing the opponents one more point to capture the set 25-17 and match.
Tina Syifa Sabila Salim chipped in with 13 points including 11 kills from 17 attempts for Malaysia, while Yong Yuchi Melanie, Chia Yu-en Elizabeth and Tan Zi Yu Katie scored 4 points apiece on the Singapore’s loss.
On Monday, Singapore take on Malaysia, Australia play Indonesia and Philippines go up against Thailand.
RESULTS AND POOL RANKING
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