The Philippine women’s volleyball team faces its first litmus test of the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in the form of perennial contender Vietnam on Wednesday, May 10, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Game time is 6 pm (Manila time).
Coming off a brutal 25-5, 25-5, 25-5 annihilation of the host nation that only fielded homegrown neophytes, the Filipina spikers now brace for a real challenge against the reigning silver medalists, who are still captained by spiking sensation “T4” Tran Thih Thanh Thuy.
The Philippines has not beaten Vietnam in at least a decade of SEA Games competition, with the closest attempt being a five-set loss back in 2019 in Manila. This year, the podium-hungry Filipinas are once again led by the country’s best, including Premier Volleyball League (PVL) MVPs Tots Carlos, Mylene Paat, and Jema Galanza.
Team captain and Philippine flag bearer Alyssa Valdez is also in the active roster and continues to hope she gets ready to play while on the tail end of her major knee injury recovery.
Only the top two teams in the four-member Group B advance to the semifinals. Vietnam opened its campaign with its own decimation of Singapore, 25-13, 25-8, 25-7.