THE Philippines stood its ground but still fell to Thailand in five sets while Leg 1 champion Indonesia made short work of Vietnam in the opener of the Southeast Asia Volleyball League on Friday night at the City of Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.
Buoyed by massive support at home and the lift from aces Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo, the nationals controlled the majority of the match with a 2-1 lead only to run out of steam in a tough 24-26, 27-25, 25-21, 23-25, 14-16 defeat at the hands of Thais.
Indonesia, in the first match, had no problem dispatching Vietnam, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23, to bolster its second straight title after sweeping the opening leg in Jakarta last week.
In that leg, the Filipino spikers succumbed to a 22-25, 20-25, 20-25 loss to Thailand.
But an almost entirely different Philippine team showed up in Santa Rosa with…
