 |
| photo © Jerome Ascano |
THE country’s final hope in the 2015 Spike for Peace International Beach Volleyball Tournament went down on Tuesday as Philippines-A was eliminated following a 21-14, 21-10 loss to Spain at the Philsports Arena.
The tandem of Amaranta Fernandez and Ester Ribera blasted the Filipina pair of Charo Soriano and Alexa Micek in just 29 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
As easy as it looked, Fernandez, who finished with 19 points, including four service aces, said the Filipinas pushed them to their limit.
“No it wasn’t easy, that game we still have to focus, we needed to push until the final,” she said.
Spain finished with an even 1-1 slate in the eliminations for a three-way logjam with Netherlands and Australia B on top of Group A.
Coach Oliver Almadro admitted the Filipinas are still far behind the level of play of their Spanish opponents.
“Ang lalaki nila and masyado pa tayong malayo sa level nila,” he said.
Philippines-A ended its campaign in the tournament winless after losing to Thailand and New Zealand in Group D.
Earlier eliminated was Philippines B, which also finished with a 0-3 slate in Group C as the tandem of Danika Gendrauli ad Norie Jane Diaz fell victim to heavyweight teams Japan, Sweden, and Brazil.
