Bryan Bagunas’ explosive display on offense came into naught as the Philippines absorbed a 22-25, 23-25, 20-25, defeat at the hands of Indonesia in the 19th Asian Games men’s volleyball competition Tuesday night at the Deqing Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The Filipinos had a rude welcome in their Asiad return after 49 years of absence with the Southeast Asian Games champions Indonesians sweeping their way to victory in Pool F in just one hour and 23 minutes.
Bagunas finished with a game-high 17 points on 16 of 24 attacking clip and tallied 11 excellent receptions but all his efforts went down the drain.
The Filipinos made a valiant stand throughout the match, keeping the game close in all three sets only to crumble in the end against the might of Indonesia.
It didn’t help that the Nationals threw away 21 errors and allowed the Indonesians to land six aces.
Steve Rotter added nine points while Marck Espejo came off the bench to chip in eight markers, nine excellent receptions and three digs. Vince Mangulabnan dished out 23 excellent sets.
Three Indonesians finished in double figures with Agil Anggara scoring 11 points while Doni Horyono and Fahri Putratama got 10 markers each.
The Filipinos face Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon in a must-win match to remain in contention for the two Final 12 spots at stake in the preliminary round.
