Philippines falls to Mongolia, will play in battle for 9th of AVC tilt

The Philippines national men's volleyball team lost steam as it absorbed a 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 12-15 loss to Mongolia in the classification round of the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Men on Friday night in Taiwan.

The nationals, though, will still play in the battle for ninth against either host Chinese Taipei or Kazakhstan on Saturday. Mongolia, on the other hand, will advance to the 7th place match.

Mongolia had the momentum early in the second set before Filipino-American opposite hitter Steven Rotter and veteran spiker Marck Espejo connived to give the team a 19-17 lead.

Mongolia tried to mount a rally in bid to level the match but a service error didn't help their cause, giving the Philippines the set point at 24-22 before Kim Malabunga's familiar quick attack sent the nationals to a commanding 2-0 lead, 25-23.

Mongolia, however, won the next two frames to drag the Philippines to a fifth set with opposite spiker Battur Batsuuri leading the way.

Mongolia's net defense was too much for the Philippines to handle as they rejected Espejo and Chumason Njigha for an 11-7 cushion in the decider. A service error from Rotter sent Mongolia to the match point before another service infraction from Jau Umandal sealed it off for the opponents.

The Philippines previously defeated Mongolia during their pool stage encounter with a five-set triumph where Espejo dropped 36 points to steer the team to sweep of the eliminations.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News