Manila, Philippines, August 17, 2017- Kazakhstan maintained their 7th place achieved at the previous Asian meet two years ago in Tianjin, China after edging hosts Philippines in exhausting five sets 25-20 25-16 21-25 21-25 15-3 in the 7th-8th playoff match at the SMM 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at the Alonte Sports Arena on Thursday.
Yekaterina Zhdanova emerged as a scoring machine for the winning side with a match-high 24 points in this match including 19 kills from 40 attempts. Aside from Zhdanova, the other three players also scored double digits for Kazakhstan. Katerina Tatko contributed 15 points for the team, with captain Radmila Beresneva and Alla Bogdashkina handing the similar 14 points for the Kazakh side. Tall Alyja Santiago tallied 18 points from 14 kills, 3 blocks and one ace for Philippines.
With the five-set win, Kazakhstan took home the 7th place, while the host side came in 8th position. Kazakhstan’s best performance dated back to 2005 when they bagged silver following a 0-3 loss in the final showdown to hosts China in Taicang.
“I think the Philippines played well in this match agains us. They had a good combination and made a successful comeback in the third and fourth sets. We won the first two sets, but after that suffered a flop as we started playing nervously. Fortunately, we regained our form in the fifth set and that’s why we won easily in the tie-break. After this tournament, we will go back to Kazakhstan, preparing for the World Championship Asian Qualifier Pool A next month. China, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Fiji and our team will participate in the tournament. I hope that Kazakhstan will play better at home,” captain Radmila Beresneva commented after the match.
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