June 11 ------ Alas Pilipinas Girls suffered their first loss in the 22nd Princess Cup SEA U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship against host nation Thailand, 15-25, 12-25, 11-25 at the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium. The Philippines dropped to 2-1, tying for second place with Indonesia. Meanwhile, Thailand rose to 3-0, becoming the last remaining unbeaten squad in the six-team tournament.
The Filipinos will look to return to the win column tomorrow at 3:00 PM (Manila time) against Australia before capping the preliminaries against Indonesia. After the single round-robin, the top two teams will clash in the final, the third and fourth squads will compete for bronze, and the bottom two teams will battle for fifth place. Six-foot outside hitter Supawadee Panwilai was her usual dominant self, just as in the first two frames.
Meanwhile, Sasikan Kanoiu provided backup as the host nation went on an 18-7 opening blast in the third for the straight-set victory against Alas. Panwilai and Natharika Wasan carried the momentum from their first set win, bringing Thailand to a 15-4 hot start in the second, leading to a commanding 2-0 set lead. After exchanging points in the early part of the first frame, 7-7, Panwilai and Atitaya Kaewnok anchored the Thais to seven unanswered points to break it wide open, en route to an opening 25-15 victory to set the tone.
Source: tiebreakertimes.com.ph
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