By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine women’s volleyball team swept Malaysia, 25-14, 25-20, 25-15, Friday to jumpstart its medal bid in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Quang Ninh Gymnasium in Vietnam.
The Filipina spikers controlled the tempo of the match anchored on Mylene Paat for their first win in the round-robin preliminaries.
The Nationals briefly encountered stiff challenge in the second set when they saw their early 8-1 lead vanish and trailed 15-14, but Paat joined forces with Alyssa Valdez, Ria Meneses, Ces Molina, Kyle Negrito and Jaja Santiago to regain the upperhand and take the set victory.
From then on, the Filipinas dictated the third set by leading as many as 10, 23-13, before Kat Tolentino and Paat fired back-to-back down-the-line spikes for the win.
The Nationals will next face powerhouse Thailand on Saturday.
