Manila, Philippines, August 9, 2017 – The loud and proud Filipino crowds inside the Alonte Sports Complex were rewarded with a huge win Wednesday as the Philippines waxed hot in their SMM 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship debut, drubbing Hong Kong in three sets, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17.
Philippines’ setter Kim Fajardo unleashed top guns Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago, who fired off a combined 27-point output, while also getting spikers Ces Molina, Mika Reyes, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Jovelyn Gonzaga in the offensive onslaught to finish the match with 26 excellent sets with 7 points to boot.
“That’s the goal: a 3-set win. We had good results today. I’m proud that the hard work we put into training in Japan paid off,” said Philippine team head coach Francis Vicente.
Prior to the tournament’s kick-off, the Philippine delegation spent weeks in the Land of the Rising Sun for a training camp that included scrimmages against some of Japan’s top club teams.
But while the win was the best way to start the tournament for the hosts, the true acid test for the Filipinos will happen on Friday when they square off with the taller spikers off Kazakhstan at 5:30pm local time at the same venue.
If you ask Vicente, however, he firmly believes that heart for the game trumps height advantage.
“They are tall. They are bigger than us physically. But we are also big. We have a big heart,” he said.
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/
AVC Twitter: click: https://twitter.com/avcvolley
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation