Alas Pilipinas Men fall short vs Chinese Taipei, bows out of contention in AVC Nations Cup

The Alas Pilipinas Men fell short against Chinese Taipei, 25-19, 23-25, 30-28, 25-20, on Wednesday in the AVC Nations Cup in Bahrain to bow out of contention in the said tournament.

With the loss, the Philippines went winless in the preliminary round and was relegated to the classification matches for the 9th to 11th spots.

After a tight third set which went to Chinese Taipei's way as Yu-Chen Chang's attack and an error from Alas closed the said frame, the Philippines continued to go neck-and-neck in Set 4 as they trailed 17-14 before Chinese Taipei pulled away, 21-15. Y.C. Chang had a service error to hand another point for Alas, but Chinese Taipei continued to ride on its momentum en route to the victory.

Marck Espejo, who shook off an injury scare from Tuesday's match against Pakistan, registered a game-high 26 points from 22 attacks and four blocks, while Leo Ordiales stood out with 15 points. 

Yu-Sheng Chang had 24 points to lead Chinese Taipei, while Yi-Kai Wen and Y.C. Chang had 14 and 12 points, respectively.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News