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| photo (c) Volleyball PH Photo Albums Page Note: Rankings used in this matchup are based on SET AVERAGES and not on SUCCESS RATE. e.g. PHI's 1.79 aces per set ranks 6th, but its service success rate of 8.68% is ranked 7th. |
The 1st ASIAN Women's U23 Volleyball Championship has finally entered the knock-out stages. In the quarterfinal pairings, Japan faces India, while Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand will face Iran. Also, Chinese Taipei will go up against South Korea. While the hosts Philippines is set to face its toughest challenge against the Women's U23 World Champions, China.
Heavily favored to win the match, China looks to assert its dominance against an unexperienced squad in Philippines, evidenced by its 29.25 errors per game norm. Meanwhile, the experienced Chinese squad commits 13.5 errors per game -- the least by any team in the tournament.
Though winning against China seems impossible, it showed signs of vulnerability as it dropped its first two sets against Korea before winning the next 3 sets to win the match. The undefeated team is surrounded by a lot of go-to players as 5 of their players are in the Top 25 best scorers in the tournament: Liu Yanhan (2nd), Song Meili (9th), Xu Kiujing (15th), Zheng Yixin (16th) and Duan Fang (23rd). The team has also fielded all of its 12 players in three out of 4 games, displaying the depth of its lineup.
On the other hand, the hard working Philippine team will continue to rely on its team captain and current tournament scoring leader, Alyssa Valdez to snatch an upset against China. The Ateneo Lady Eagles standout registers a 5.79 points per set and above 20 points per game norms. Valdez, however, will need a steady supporting crew to do the scoring duties for the team. After her, Jaja Santiago is currently ranked 25th in scoring with 10 points per game and 2.86 points per set. While Grethcel Soltones' 2.14 points per set is ranked 39th out of the 140 athletes in the tournament. The team must also display better blocking in order to deflect the spikes of the best attacking team. Almost half of China's attacks are converted into a point. China is also the current best blocking team with 3 blocks per set.
The Tin Agno-led reception and digging will also be crucial in this match, not only will it allow better offense for them, but it will prevent Jia Morado from committing setting errors. The UAAP best setter has proven to be a competent setter in the international stage with 7.36 excellent sets per set (3rd) and with her magnificent drop balls that have surprised even the Japanese floor defense. But better floor coverage will definitely help her confuse the very tall Chinese blockers. Consistency and tremendous defense could really make a difference in matching up with the highly polished technical skills of the Chinese squad.
Philippines versus China game will start at 4:15PM at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
