The Philippines primed up for its semifinals campaign with a quick work of Singapore, 25-17, 25-14, 25-13, to close the Group B hostilities of the 32nd Southeast Asia Games women’s volleyball tournament on a winning note Thursday at the Olympic Complex Indoor Main Hall.
Skipper Alyssa Valdez finally got a piece of the action after sitting out the first two games as the Filipinas bounced back from a sorry straight sets loss to Vietnam last Wednesday.
It was Valdez who hammered the winning hit to hand the Nationals their second win in three games in the group stage.
The Filipinas occupied the No. 2 seed in Group B and will take on Group A top seed in defending champion Thailand in the knockout semis slated Saturday at 6 p.m. (Philippine time).
Vietnam is expected to top the group for a Final Four collision with Indonesia. The Vietnamese are playing the listless Cambodia at press time.
The Pinay spikers, who seek to end an 18-year medal drought, did not waste time in burying the Singaporeans with Brazilian head coach Jorge Souza de Brito putting in more players in his rotation.
Jema Galanza, Tots Carlos and Kat Tolentino fired away from the wings while Del Palomata, who was quiet against Vietnam, bounced back big time leading the Filipinas’ solid net defense.
Valdez came in late in the opening set with the Philippines ahead, 19-13, for Palomata as a service specialist.
The 29-year-old winger played in a competitive match for the first time since hurting her right knee in the battle for third of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference battle for third December last year.
Carlos and Tolentino had 11 points each while Galanza finished with 10 for the Nationals. Mylene Paat had nine markers.
A 6-1 blitz in the second set sealed Galanza’s cross court hit turned the Nationals’ slim 8-7 lead to a 14-8 advantage before cruising to a 2-0 match lead.
The Nationals were also dominant in the third frame, building a 22-12 gap after a Galanza hit.
The Creamline star put the Philippines at match point before subbing out for Valdez, who took the honor of finishing off the Singaporeans with a through the block smash at the left corner to the delight of her teammates and Filipino fans.
Singapore closed its group stage campaign with a 1-2 slate and was relegated in the classification round for 5th to 8th place.
