Philippines goes 0-3 in Asian Volleyball Championship, relegated to classification round

The Philippines continued its difficult run in the 2023 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship as it fell to Hong Kong in a sweep fashion, 25-21, 25-21, 25-11, and remain winless on Friday in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

The Filipina spikers, bannered by youthful players, went 0-3 in the tournament after also bowing to Kazakhstan last Wednesday and China on Thursday.

Against Kazakhstan, though, the Philippines put up a fight by dragging the game into a fifth set but faltered in the endgame to drop the opening game. Similar to today, the Filipinas also absorbed a sweep defeat to the Chinese spikers, 25-15, 25-20, 25-17.

The momentum was finally going their way in the second set against Hong Kong, getting a crucial 19-17 lead before the opponents scored three straight points to retake the lead.

Hong Kong then started to pull away, 24-21, as Mhicaela Belen came up short on her open attack and the Philippines went to a 0-2 set deficit.

The third set saw Hong Kong flex its might against the Filipinas, going up 19-10 and never looking back since then.

With the loss, the NU core-led national team was relegated to the classification phase in Pool H, where it will face Iran on Sunday.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News